A Major Case
by FusseKat
Summary: Bobby meets girl, Bobby gets girl, Bobby loses girl. Murder, mayhem, kidnapping and a shooting ensue... Part 1 of the 'Sarah' Trilogy
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I own a couple of these people, but not the ones any of you would have heard of. The ones you've heard of belong to Dick Wolf. I hope he understands how much I appreciate their existance.

_This is Part 1 of a trilogy... a long part... 23 Chapters. But the entire trilogy is completely written, and I'll be posting all of it over the long weekend. There will be no starting this only to find it uncompleted for whatever reason. Now whether you like it enough to read all three is up to you...but they will be here if you so choose._

CHAPTER 1

"…I've discovered there is one thing you can count on in almost all crime fiction, and that is good will… eventually triumph over evil. But, in all very good crime fiction it is the quality of justice that triumphs over evil. The murderer, the extortionist, thief or the scam artist may not wind up in jail, may never even come to trial for his crime, for his evil, but justice…. justice will be done… one way or another. There will be… "Justice for All. This is the way our world should be…. Unfortunately for us all, It just doesn't always work out that way, and I feel that's one of the reasons the genre is so popular. It appeals to the best in us, to a nobility of spirit, to those that are good, that the bad should and will ultimately be held accountable for the evil d they do. While the real world, we may have a long way to go before we're going to be able to bring that ideal a reality, it should still be what we strive for. The fact that we can imagine it, makes it possible for us to achieve it."

Sarah Stevens stepped back from the microphone to the sound of applause. The Barnes and Noble bookstore on 5th Avenue was packed with the fans of the novelist's crime dramas.

"Thank you Sarah," said Angela Thompson, manager of the Barnes and Nobles Book sellers. "I'd like to be the first to thank Sarah for her insights and her reading tonight from what I'm sure is to be her next best selling book, "And Justice for All". Angela paused as the applause began again.

"For those who are staying for the book signing, we start that in about fifteen minutes. We thought we'd give everyone a chance to stretch your legs, get something to drink; we have coffee and water set up around the corner. For those of you wishing a little fresh air or a quick smoke we ask that you use the atrium exit to the courtyard. The outside doors are locked, so once outside those doors, there will be no one to let you back in. When you're ready we're going to ask that you line up to the left of the two stanchions just over my shoulder. That way we can accommodate everyone quickly with a minimum of confusion."

Another round of light applause as Sarah shyly smiled and walked off with Angela. People began making their way over to the beverage and food tables, others made a mad dash for the restrooms while an equal number dashed for the courtyard doors to be able to light up. Sarah watched as about 10 people headed for the outside door, obviously not intending to return.

"Well, I guess you can't please everyone." Sarah said as she linked arms with Angie and headed over to one of the drink stations. "I could really use something to drink, water or a soda. I have an extreme case of dry mouth. I still hate these events and I get so nervous. This latest tour hasn't helped. It's been the worst yet, because there has been more and more people at each one. It's terrible, it's torture, and I'm not sure why I have to subject myself to these horrors."

"Because you want to be able to sell your books. It's a great way to get people's attention. The bookstore will sell your books. You'll make money, I'll make money. People will be entertained, so in the long run, everyone wins."

"Besides, you were great. Everyone fell in love with you. You didn't look or sound nervous. Everyone was charmed by you." Angie said in an effort to build her friend up.

"Well, not everyone." Sarah nodded in the direction of the people who had now exited the bookstore and walking down the street.

"Yeah, well what do they know? They probably think that Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes are still the best detectives in crime fiction." She dismissed the young couples with a shake of her head.

"Ange, I doubt they are even old enough to know who Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes were. And even if they do know, they probably only do in the context as characters from an old movie they've seen."

Laughing, the two reached the end of a line of people waiting to get something to drink. "You know how uncomfortable I am when I have to get up and speak to a large group of people. I thought this was supposed to get easier the more I did it, but this book tour was just as difficult as the others were. Shaking her head, "That's one reason I chose writing as a profession over one that required public speaking. I can hold up in my apartment and write to my heart's content and not have to defend or explain my characters or myself. I hate 'the business' part of writing. I'm going to have to be more firm with Amanda about keeping me out of these things. I'm all about the creative process." Sarah teased her friend.

Angie rolled her eyes at Sarah as she countered her argument. "Oh Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Amanda is just doing her job and you'd be lost without her." Angie stopped and placed her hands on Sarah's shoulders and turned her to look her in the eyes. "Listen to me. You were great. You always are, you don't give yourself enough credit. OK, so maybe you're not a natural speaker and you feel nervous up there. So what? Everyone gets nervous. You're clever and articulate, and you have a wonderful speaking voice. You've always risen to every occasion and challenge. You handle yourself with grace and confidence. If that's not enough, you're cute as can be.

"Stop it Ange. You don't have to sell me on me. It's not a self-esteem issue. And you don't need to handle me, either. Now you on the other hand, you are my absolute rock. No one could have put tonight together any better than you. Thank you." Linking arms again the two advanced a half dozen steps closer to the drink cart. Sarah gives Angie a quick pull towards her and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Angie. There's really so much I wouldn't have been able to do without you on my side."

They both knew she meant more than just tonight's gathering. "We've always been there for each other, since junior high school. That's never going to change." Angie said, while noticing that two of her assistant managers had their heads together, pointing in her direction. "Oh no, let me go see what this is about. These lines are taking longer than I thought. Why don't you let me get you a couple of bottles of water and bring them over to the table? I should have had the refreshments more spread out."

"Stop fussing over me. I'm not high maintenance; I can get my own water. Now, go on, see what's come up and finish driving your staff crazy with your unreasonable demands. You're the control freak. not me. Now go, handle this 'major' crisis, I'll get my own water and I'll meet you back at the table, ready to work in a few minutes."

"Grrrr… OK, just give us another five minutes to make sure everything is set and ready for you when you come over."

"OK, I'll see you in about five minutes." Shaking her head in amazement at how much Angie worried over the smallest detail. She realized that some of the authors and even customers Angie had to deal with were demanding and quick to lash out with artistic temperament or perceived superiority. Angie had to be five steps ahead of everyone else, just to keep everything running smoothly.

Sarah patiently waited in line, hoping they didn't run out of water before she made it to the head of the line. As she did, she looked around and noticed that there were several people already lining up to get their books signed. She smiled and nodded acknowledgment to several who were looking in her direction and made eye contact.

"And Justice For All" was Sarah's third book and it still surprised her that people were interested in what she wrote. Here she was, at the end of a successful 15-city book tour, desperately waiting for the evening to end. After tonight, she was a free woman. There were no more demands on her time, no more traveling, no more hotels, no more airports. She was home and she was looking forward to getting back to her own apartment, her own bed - to her writing and to her life, which for now consisted of her writing.

Finally making it to the front of the line, she was blocked as a very tall man who seemed to appear out of nowhere cut in line ahead of her.. 'Where did he come from? How could someone that big move so quickly?' Sarah thought. Slightly exasperated at yet another example of the rudeness and thoughtlessness of New Yorkers, she stepped back to allow him to exit so she could move forward once he did. As she did, she wondered, Wow, how tall is this guy?'.

He turned back and looked down at her. He extended his hand, which held a bottle of water. "I overheard you say you were thirsty and thought you might like something to drink." The man awkwardly fumbled with the bottle as he handed it to her.

"By cutting me off just before I would have been able to get it for myself? Well, thank you." Sarah said as she felt her sarcasm button being pushed. Seeing the look of hurt pass over the man's face, she felt terrible. She didn't normally go off on people like that. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. It was very considerate of you, Mr.….."

"Bobby. Bobby Goren."

"Bobby." Sarah nodded and looked up at him again. In the blink of an eye, she sized him up, without being conscious of it, it was an instinctive skill passed down the ages by genetic memory and experience honed by a modern world. She reaffirmed that he was indeed very tall, several inches over 6 feet tall. He looked about ten, maybe fifteen years older than her 26 years; the crinkle lines around his eyes were beginning to become permanent. His had dark brown hair was starting to go gray at the temples, and it was long enough to hint at its natural curl. He looked to be in good shape. Underneath his well cut suit, broad shoulders tapered to a solid waist. He wasn't pretty-boy cute, or even classically handsome. Nevertheless, he was very attractive. The refrain of an old song ran through her brain, "Brown Eyed Handsome Man".

As she looked up at him, Bobby looked down at her in that peculiar way he had of slightly bending down and tilting his head. At 6'4" he seemed to do this a lot. He thought she must be about 5 foot 6" or 7" with a thin build but leaning toward athletic. He thought back to the photo he'd seen on the book cover he'd been looking at earlier. It was the photo used on the back of all three of her books. Whoever the photographer had been, he had done a disservice to her by photographing her in black and white. A black and white photo didn't capture her brightness. She was full of color. The photographer had missed the opportunity to let people see who she was. She looked much younger in person than in the photo. He had assumed her to be in her mid-thirties, he revised his estimate, putting now to be only in her mid-twenties. The sparkle in her green eyes was amazing. He wasn't sure if the fire in those eyes were the perfect complement to her chestnut-colored hair or the other way around. She was a very attractive and, at the moment, a highly amused young woman.

Bobby began motioning with the index finger of his left hand, making small circles, pointing towards Sarah's lopsided smirking grin. He used his hands almost as much as his voice in conversation.

"If…. If I could, um… ah, just ask what that's all about? The grin?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Mortified at being caught at allowing her thoughts to be telegraphed by the look on her face. Sarah guiltily and quickly wiped the smirk from her mouth as she stumbled with her words, "ummm… eemmm… OK, it's just that when I was behind you, you seemed this very imposing figure; and then when you turned around you seemed even more so. I was imagining someone with a very proper and imposing name. You know, something like Maximilian or Siegfried, something like that. Robert is good too, Bobby just seems such a little boy's name and then you turn out to be this big, tall, imposing figure. It seems so… incongruous. It's just the way my mind works. It goes off on its' own tangents and I don't seem to have any control over it. And… and sometimes I don't seem to be able to hide the weird track my mind takes. I'm sorry, I hope I didn't offend you, I sincerely didn't mean to. I also hope that you will accept my apology."

She's adorable, he thought. Especially when slightly flustered and embarrassed as she was right now.

He laughed. "That's my secret to disarming people. Incongruity, and there's no need to apologize. I've been told my mind works in some strange ways too. It drives my boss crazy. These ideas and half-formed conclusions, leaps in logic that just seem to come right out of my mouth. Plus, I'm not very good at censoring myself." After a short pause, he added, "Siegfried, huh?

"Well, then you know…" Strange, she was slightly embarrassed, but willing to continue the conversation. "I don't know where 'Siegfried' came from, just another of those left field thoughts…" They both grinned at this comment and Sarah continued, "… thanks for letting me off the hook, I appreciate it." She said with a big grin. "Well, I've got to get back to work and start signing books, before Angie comes after me She's quite formidable and even though she's my best friend on the planet, she wouldn't hesitate to drag me over there by my ear. I hope I'll see you later, with book in hand."

"Definitely, I've been looking forward to it all night." Bobby realized he'd been right to stay once the bookstore closed to the public. He'd stopped in on the way home from work to pick up a copy of The Smithsonian magazine. He'd forgotten to renew his subscription and it really did fit perfectly on his treadmill.

"Well then, I guess I'll be seeing you again soon. It was nice talking to you, Bobby." She smiled as she emphasized his name.

"Yes, I guess you will. Very soon." Most definitely, he thought as he finally handed her the bottled water.

"Thank you again." Pause. "Bobby." Sarah raised the bottled water in salute. She turned back towards the tall man behind her. "You know, I think "Bobby" actually fits you perfectly."

It was Bobby's turn to thank her as he laughed at her comment. He made his way over to the end of the line, which by now had snaked throughout the store. There seemed to be more people here then there appeared when they were all sitting and listening to the reading Sarah had given. Bobby kept stepping out of line as he let others in front of him. He wanted, no, he needed to be one of the last people to get his book signed.

Angie had been watching the conversation between Sarah and a tall man she'd never seen before. When Sarah reached her, she whispered, "Who was that fine looking man? Did you make a new friend? Those shoulders are amazing."

"That is Bobby Goren."

"Who's Bobby Goren?"

"I have no idea. But I agree with you about those shoulders." Sarah said as she winked and walked up to the table set up to do the signing.


	2. Chapter 2

Angie looked carefully at her friend

Angie looked carefully at her friend. She noticed the grin, the sparkle in her eyes and if she wasn't mistaken, her friend was looking a little flushed. Angie looked over to the man as he walked over to the end of the line. She wasn't sure what to make of this and her protective radar went up.

Deciding to investigate later, Angie asked, "So what do you say we get this show on the road? Angie walked over to the microphone as Sarah answered, "Let's do it."

It didn't take Sarah long to realize that the man she'd been talking to planned on being one of the last people in line. She saw him step back to allow two women to get in line in front of him. She could see where he stood in line, towering over most of the people in front of him but never seeming to get any closer. She wasn't sure why she was keeping track of his progress in the line, other that he was a familiar face and an easy one to keep in sight. As each new person stepped up, she would look up in greeting and sneak a glance in his direction. She noticed there were times when he had a distracted, unfocused look to his eyes as his gaze roamed around the room. There were other times when she looked up and saw that he was looking right at her, with a little grin playing at the corners of his mouth. Those little grins made her smile in delight and be even more gracious with everyone she greeted. Taking extra time to speak with everyone only increased the length of time he had to wait. It was evil of her, but it appealed to her sick sense of humor.

"Well, hello there. We meet again, finally." Bobby said, as he slid his book over for her to sign. "If you could just sign it, 'To Siegfried, and first impressions'?'"

Laughing, "OK, I like that. I saw you letting others get in line ahead of you, but, please tell me it didn't take you this long to come up with it."

"Well, I'm slow, but a little quicker than that. I also had the idea that if I was the last people or even the last person in line, I'd have a better chance of getting to talk to you.

"And why would you want to do that?" Sarah asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, there wasn't much of an opportunity to ask for your phone number earlier, and I didn't want to miss the chance."

"What, my phone number? You want my phone number. I don't understand."

"Yes, your phone number. I assume you have one. I mean, how else are we going to get to know each other? Or plan a first date if we don't get another chance to talk?"

"Well of course I have a phone number, a couple of them as a matter of fact, but… Our first date? Umm … look I think we're heading off into one of those weird tangents we talked about earlier." She looked around for Angie, who was on the far side of the store.

Bobby turned to follow her sight line and saw she was focused on the woman she'd been with earlier. "I was… um thinking more, more along the lines of your home phone. What are the chances of that? Just a way to stay in touch and get to know each other better, before that first date thing."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the chance really isn't very good at all. I mean, I don't really know you and I don't just give my number out…."

"Don't be sorry, Sarah. You know me. We met earlier. Remember?" Bending down closer to her, he hummed the tune of "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man". "I think you want to get to know me better too. I'm pretty good at reading people."

There were so few people left in the store that Angie and her assistants had started locking up doors and closing out registers for the night. She glanced over to where Sarah was still talking with the man she'd met earlier. She saw that Sarah was looking flustered and she came running over.

As she rounded the table she stood behind Sarah. "Are…are we okay here, Sarah? Is everything all right?"

"Um, um… yeah, everything's fine Angie, just fine." Angie had protectively placed her hands on Sarah's shoulders. "I was just…. just…"

Rather pointedly, Angie addressed the man towering over them. "I'm sorry sir, but it's late and I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I think we've kept Sarah long enough tonight, don't you?"

Now it was Goren's turn to be a little flustered. Bobby replayed the interaction he'd witness between the two women tonight. The way the two had linked arms several times after the book discussion, and the kiss Sarah had given Angie. The way Angie now leapt to Sarah's defense. He was going to have to take back that comment about being able to read people.

"Look, maybe I've made a mistake here and if I have, I'm sorry…. really. I didn't mean to overstep. I guess you're right. I should leave." Bobby looked down at the book in his hands as he tried to think of something else to say. He hadn't been blindsided like this in a long time. On the job, he was a bright guy, perceptive and good at reading body language, seeing little clues that others missed. Why did he have so much trouble in personal situations? How could he have misread the situation so badly?

Bobby waved the book as he took a step back. "Thank you for this. Good night."

As he turned to leave, Angie said, "No, no, no, hey it's nothing like that. We're best friends. We go back, to junior high school. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't leap into her defense when she's looking a little freaked?" Angie flashed him her wedding ring.

"What?" Sarah asked. She was perplexed by what was happening. She was still grappling with the question of how he knew about the song.

"What? Oh, that's what …. No… that's not it. It's just…" Sarah blushed. She was still running about 2 minutes behind in what was going on.

"Well it looks like it's my turn to be sorry again, I guess." Bobby said, smirking.

"You're not the first and I doubt you'll be the last. I guess with people who don't really know us, it's the easy explanation." Angie said with a shrug of her shoulders which implied that it wasn't her problem if people made that assumption.

Turning to Bobby, Sarah asks, "How did you know, about, about the song? The song you just hummed?" She was still stunned that he had hummed the song she'd thought of when she first saw him.

Before he could answer, Angie blurted out, "Okay, I think there's been enough confusion tonight, so here's how the rest of it's going to play out. I'm going to conduct a little pre-date interview, just like on those online dating websites." Angie had sized up this situation and if she left it up to Sarah she'd shoot this guy down without giving him half a chance. Just as every other guy who'd approached her in the last three years. He seemed like an interesting guy, but Angie knew she was going to have to step in and help him out. She was going to do her best to see that Sarah couldn't slip off the hook this time.

Panic quickly replaced confusion as Sarah squeaked, "A pre-date interview? Very funny. No, no Angie, knock it off." Sarah said as she rose to her feet. "I'm not playing this game Angie."

Angie continued as if Sarah hadn't spoken, "OK, Sarah mentioned your name earlier…" Angie ignored the warning look Sarah sent her way, "but I'm sorry, but I've forgotten what it is. So, what was your name again?"

"Bobby. Bobby Goren."

"Right, okay. So play along with me Bobby. Believe me, it's your only chance."

Bobby grinned as he nodded. He thought this was about to get interesting.

"What do you do for a living. Where do you work?" Angie asked.

"I'm a police officer. I'm a detective with Major Case. I work downtown at One Police Plaza."

"OK, well… hmmm. Are you an honest cop? You're not on 'the take' or anything are you? Where do you live? What part of town?"

"Nope, not 'on the take' as you put, no skim, I'm just an honest hard-working detective. I live near the East Village, just a couple of blocks from here. I just happened to stop by on my way home from work tonight." This was odd, a very odd feeling. He was usually the one interrogating a subject. But, he was willing to play along to see how this turned out.

"Good, that's not too far away from Sarah, and it's a decent neighborhood. Kind of artsy. Are you an artist or creative? What about transportation? Do you have a car?"

"'Artistic? No, but I have a great appreciation for painting and books. My mother was a librarian. And cars, yes I have two. One is a suped up classic '68 Charger that some friends and I restored a couple of years ago. There's also a fairly new, more practical Wrangler SUV. A couple of big cars for a big guy." Bobby admitted with a shrug. "But I don't drive either one too often, in the city. Regular day to day, I'm a subway kind of guy."

"So, just to be sure that we are all on the same page, you'd like to ask my best friend, girl friend sitting right here, out on a date, am I right? So, I guess we can also assume you're straight. That you're an eligible bachelor and unencumbered, with the ability to pay for dinner, a movie, coffee?"

"Um, ah yes to all of the above." Now it was Bobby's turn to smirk again. This was turning into an amusing night, to say the least.

Angie turned to address Sarah, wo had been sitting with her mouth hanging open. "OK, Sarah. I don't need to ask you any questions. I know all I need to know about you. I think I know your history better than you do. I think he's all right. I think you should go out with him. At least once."

"And you, Bobby Goren, hot-shot detective from One Police Plaza, you should be able to find her number. You find her number and she'll go out with you. How's that for a deal, everyone?"

"NO. There's no deal." Sarah was indignant. "Okay, Angie you've had your fun and I get your point. Honestly, I do. But, this is not going to happen Mr. Goren. I'm not a twelve year old. I repeat this is not going to happen. You've both had your fun, but it's over and I'm leaving, now." Sarah grabbed her briefcase and blazer and started to walk to the door.

"Wait, wait…. Sarah." Angie headed off after Sarah. Turning to Bobby she said, "Don't you move."

Bobby threw his hands up in mock surrender. He stepped back to lean back on the edge of the table and crossed his arms across his chest.

Angie caught up with Sarah and implored, "Sarah, wait. Please stop."

"Angie, I don't want to hear it! You are certifiable! This doesn't even rank as a high school stunt, it's not even junior high school. Under her breath she added, "You weren't this crazy in high school. Oh, Angie how could you? I'm so embarrassed."

"OK, first off, you didn't need me to be like this in high school. You weren't shooting down every guy who showed a modicum of interest in you then. Secondly, I had to step in to keep you from shutting this guy down before he even had a chance."

"That's my point Angie, we, I don't know anything about him. You don't know anything about him. I don't know anything about him. How could you be so reckless?"

"Look, we know as much about him, more even, than I knew about David when I first went out with him. And look how well that turned out."

Glancing over to where Bobby sat, Sarah whispered, "He is not David. I can't do this Angie. I can't."

With an exasperated sigh, Angie realized she had to hit Sarah hard. "Look, Sarah the only thing I may have gotten you involved in is an adventure. Nothing more, nothing less. That's what dating is, Sarah. Giving two people a chance to find out what they have in common. It doesn't have to be anymore than that. Give it a chance, Sarah. Give him a chance. Give yourself a chance. Not everyone is a stalker. Not everyone is psychotic. Not everyone is a freak. Not every man is Michael."

At the mention of Michael's name, the breath caught in Sarah's throat and a startled gasp escaped. "Oh god, Sarah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. It just came out." Angie came over to Sarah and hugged her, pulling her tight. "I'm sorry."

Shaking her head, Sarah said, "You're right. I know you are. About all of it. But it's still just so hard. I know you didn't mean to bring up Michael."

"Come on back, he's still sitting there waiting. He obviously has a sense of humor. Cut him a break and tell him if he finds your phone number, he can call you. It's all been kind of goofy and fun, it'll fit right in."

"Oh god, I'm going to look like the biggest fool."

Linking arms again, Angie chided, "Not any bigger than earlier tonight during book reading."

"What?!"

"I'm just joking with you. Okay just follow my lead and try to keep up this time."

Angie led Sarah back to where Bobby sat. he'd opened the book he had and started reading.

"Well, it looks like he passed the freak out test. He's still here. He didn't slink away. So he's pretty steady." Angie elbowed Sarah to get her to reply.

"That… that's a bonus. Okay, that's a point in his favor. I guess you're right. If he finds my phone number, I'll talk to him. Other than that, all bets are off." She looked as she spoke, but her comments were directed to Angie. It gave her more confidence that way.

Before things could get any stranger, Bobby knew he needed to make his exit. "OK, great. A deal is a deal. I'll call you tomorrow, and… and we'll talk. Maybe, we can make plans to meet somewhere very public. I'll call you tomorrow. Because it's late, I'll wait until tomorrow to call you." He realized that he was babbling, he needed to get out of here… now. With a big grin on his face, he began to back away. He knew he could get every phone number and address for Sarah Stevens in about 5 minutes. He turned on his heel and headed for the door. Once he reached it he walked away not rushing and not turning around. That would signal anxiousness and desperation. Even though that's what he was feeling, he really didn't think he needed to broadcast it.

"Wait a minute. I, I can't do this." It was too late. He was gone. How does such a big guy move and disappear so quickly? "Aaahh, what am I going to do? What was I thinking?"

"Just breathe, honey. You'll be fine. Really you will." Sarah tagged along with Angie as she went to tell the last of her employees they could leave. "Stay here and keep an eye out for David, he should be here any minute now to take us home. I'll be right back, I just need to lock the safe up and get my coat and bag."

Looking out the window they could still see the tall figure of Bobby Goren as he walked away from the bookstore. Sarah looked over to Angie, "Just so you know; I'm telling David all about what just happened. And how if he wasn't around you would probably have given Bobby your phone number."

"Is my wife giving our phone number out to strange men again?" As if on cue, David arrived to pick up the girls. As Sarah related the events of the last few minutes, David couldn't contain his laughter. "Any chance the security cameras picked up any of this action?"

"The security cameras!" Angie cried as hugged David and then ran off to see if there was any video evidence of the incident. Now that she'd be able to hold over Sarah's head forever.

"Too bad those cameras aren't equipped with audio." David added, watching his wife run to the office.

Giving up in disgust, Sarah huffed off, "You two are hopeless. You deserve each other."

And with that David whole heartedly agreed and ran to catch up to Sarah, to give her a big hug.


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty minutes later, Sarah was home getting ready for bed, reliving the night, in all its triumph and its weird turn of event

Twenty minutes later, Sarah was home getting ready for bed, reliving the night, in all its triumph and its weird turn of events. Her phone rang and she knew it would be Angie calling to check on her, to apologize and even reassure her that things weren't as terrible as she thought. Picking up the phone, without preamble she said, "No Angie, I don't forgive you. Or David either. I can't forgive him for not backing me up on this. I thought he was the sane normal one. It appears as if you've infected him and won him over to the dark side. I realize it's too late for him now; even I can't save him from your demented behavior."

"Um, um … Sarah? Sarah Stevens?" A voice stuttered over the phone.

Suddenly chastened, Sarah replied, "Yes, yes it is. Who is this please?"

"This is Detective Robert Goren of the NYPD. And…"

"WHAT!! Oh my God, you did it. You actually did it. You got my phone number." Oh geez, she thought. She was going to look like a major head case to this guy. She'd show him. She'd make him regret wanting to go out with her.

"It really wasn't very difficult." Bobby thought he could imagine the embarrassed look on her face.

"How, how did you get it so quickly?"

"Let your fingers do the walking… I used the phone book. You're listed in the phone book. I could have done that in the first place, but I didn't think you'd appreciate a cold call like that. Most women wouldn't. I wanted your permission to call.'

"Oh…um." Laughing now, almost on the edge of hysteria. She was having a hard time keeping track of all the weirdness that happened in the last couple of hours.

"Look, uh, um, Sarah. I really want you to want to give me your number. I wanted more time to talk to you. More time to get to know you. Time enough for you to feel comfortable enough to say 'yes' when I ask you out. I think that's what I wanted to do from the moment I …I saw you tonight, to ask you out. I'm not a stalker or anything, if you don't want to do this, any of this just say so. And you're off the hook for all of it. And I'll never bother you again."

"But the rest of it, well that, the pre-date interview and the joking around was just that. A joke, a game that got out of hand. Your friend Angie was very good at it, and the look on your face was priceless, so I played along with it. It was interesting for me to be on the other side of the fence, so to speak. With my job, I'm always the one seeking answers, I rarely think about having to provide answers. I really would like to get to know you, but I don't want to bother you. But since I do already have your phone number already, maybe we could… maybe we could talk, until you feel more at ease. I know that… that something has you spooked, but I don't think it's me."

Sarah sighed. She knew she'd have to face this some day. It looks like now was the time. "Look, I'm not sure why I reacted so… well the way I did. I was more than a little embarrassed with Angie coming over and taking control the way she did. It was a very strange, very weird situation. It was like being in the middle of a play, knowing you have a part to play, but not what it is or what your lines are. I'm usually much quicker than that, but tonight I just wasn't able to get up to speed with what was happening."

Chuckling Bobby had to agree with her analogy. "I agree it was a little strange. So, so maybe the answer is to get together, just the two of us and you and I could … could have a more normal conversation. It doesn't have to be a big date. Maybe just coffee sometime?"

Silence …. "Sarah, are you still there?"

"Yes. Look, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, if you can think of one your friend forgot…" Bobby joked.

Smiling into the phone she asked, 'When you suggested how I should sign your book, you leaned over and hummed part of a song. How did you…. Why… why did you hum that, that particular tune? And don't tell me it was a 'lucky guess', it wasn't any lucky guess."

"You were humming it when we met, when I handed you the water. I turned around, there you were and you were humming it."

"I was, really? Do you know the song?"

"I think I do, it sounds familiar. But I can't seem to place it. I'm not really very good with song titles." He really didn't know the name of the song, but he did recognize the tune and the lyric that went with it, "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", a blatant rip off of the Van Morrison classic, "Brown Eyed Girl." Amusing, nonetheless.

"It's just been stuck in my head the last couple of days and…"

Trying to put her at ease, "Oh, don't you just hate it when that happens. A part of something gets stuck up there on repeat. It's enough to drive you crazy at times." Bobby really did know all about that.

"It sure is." Laughing Sarah agreed. "Look, I don't know why I practically went catatonic when you and Angie started out with that pre-date interview. I was just so surprised when you asked for my number, it's true, visions of stalkers ran through my head. Not that I think you are one or anything like that. All I can offer in way of an explanation is that the traveling and stress of the last couple of weeks, all the book signings, local AM morning shows, public speaking, and the whole PR thing has gotten to me…"

"No, really it's okay. I've been turned down for dates before. Don't worry about it. Believe it or not, ah… ah it happens - frequently." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I find that hard to believe. But about that, I don't think the earth's rotation would reverse if we were to meet for coffee sometime or even if went out to dinner or something like that. I think that I'd really like to do that, if you still wanted to." There, she'd done it. She'd taken her first step. She made herself vulnerable, something she hadn't been able to do for a very long time, and now she was holding her breath. Just who was asking who out now?

"Are you sure? I know that I am and I want you to be sure as well. In spite of all the joking around that went on tonight, I am serious about wanting to get to know you better, Sarah."

"Yes, I'm sure. Bobby. I think we're both worth at least one dinner, aren't we?"

"Yeah, yeah I think we are. Okay, it's late now, and I realize this has been a long long day and even longer couple of weeks with your book tour. I'll let you go and get some sleep and I'll call you again tomorrow and we'll come up with a plan. A casual fun plan."

"A casual fun plan. All right. Um... Okay. Well, good night, Bobby."

"Good night, Sarah." As Bobby disconnected his cell, he stared thoughtfully up at the lights in the building in front of him, 3 flights up, corner windows. Sarah Stevens's apartment, Sarah Stevens's bedroom. He stood there, staring at the lights, waiting for them to go out. When they eventually did, he turned and headed towards his own apartment. _Good night, Sarah._


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah awoke feeling very content and relaxed

Sarah awoke feeling very content and relaxed. Slowly waking up, she replayed the events of the previous night. People had been complimentary about her writing, about the believability of her characters, especially her female characters, something she was secretly proud of herself. Strong, resilient, self-reliant, and sure of themselves. Characteristics she wished she possessed. Several people had even bought all three books having only recently discovered her writing. That surprised and thrilled her so much, and she knew her agent, Amanda would be delighted when Sarah shared this with her later this morning. Amanda and her assistant had missed their flight from Los Angeles where they had been negotiating a contract with a movie company that had expressed interest in turning her second book, "Justice Shall Prevail" into a film. Consequently they'd been able to attend the book signing last night, but the three had planned to meet later this morning to 'debrief' from this last tour.

Angela and her staff at Barnes and Noble had outdone themselves, everything had been perfect. Angie had always been in Sarah's corner. Angie had been as excited by her success, if not more so than Sarah had been. Always encouraging, always supportive of her every effort. Whenever and whatever Sarah needed, Angie was there. Angie always had her back.

And I would do anything for her too, thought Sarah. Angie just never seemed to need her help. It was always me who needed Angie to lean on. While she certainly didn't wish any problems on her friend, she hoped the time would come that she could be there for Angie as steadfastly as she had been there for her.

Then there was that tall man named Bobby, with those beautiful brown eyes. He had been the last one to get his book signed. Bobby Goren. She hadn't felt so nervous, so giddy like this about a man in a long time, in fact she didn't think she ever had felt giddy over anyone before. Not even with Mike. And he had completely dominated her life for over three years. But that was over. Finally.

She still wasn't sure what to expect there. Or, what she wanted to happen. Did she want anything to happen? Aaahh….she almost hoped he didn't call today. But then if he didn't….. Oh, why did things have to get so complicated? With a sigh she got out of bed to get ready for her meeting with Amanda and Kelly.

Sarah walked into Amanda Cartwright's office, only to be greeted by her agent in near hysteria.

"Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for over an hour. Don't you ever answer your cell phone? Where have you been? What have you been doing? How much trouble are we in here? What kind of damage control do we need? Are you all right?"

"Take a breath Amanda. What are you talking about?" Turning to Amanda's assistant Kelly, "What is she talking about? What's happened?"

"A police detective called and asked that you call him as soon as possible, as soon as you got his message. Here, he left you his name and number." Kelly walked back to the outer office to retrieve the information from her desk. "His name is Detective Robert Goren."

Sarah was practically seething. A joke was a joke, but this was her career he was messing with now. Scaring people she cared about. She picked up Amanda's phone and dialed the numbers Kelly read off for her.

"Goren." He checked the number before picking up the call. Good, it was Sarah. At least that's what he thought for about two seconds.

"Detective. This is Sarah Stevens. What did you think you were doing, calling my agent and intimating that I'm involved in some kind of trouble? What gives you the right? All right, last night was joking around, but it needs to stop. Now."

"Wait…..ah, wait…. what are you talking about? I didn't… I didn't imply anything. I tried calling your apartment and there was no answer. I didn't get an answering machine or service. I tried your cell phone and again there was no answer or voice mail. I really needed to get in touch with you. I'm at La Guardia and I'm about to board a plane for Washington. I didn't know if I was going to be able to call later. With the way things worked out last night, I didn't think that I'd stand much of a second chance with you if I didn't get in touch with you after I said I'd call. That would be the end of the story, before there was a beginning…

"All I said was that if you came in or they were able to get in touch with you that you call me, and I left my cell number. While it's true I may not have any problem getting people's phone numbers, I doubt it would be that easy for you to get my phone numbers. You didn't have my cell phone number. Until now. I thought you should have it, in case I wasn't able to get in touch with you, before I left."

Eames was on her cell phone too. She'd called her boyfriend to tell him she was the one going out of town this time. Goren looked over at her and was envious that she seemed to be doing a whole lot less explaining than he was. She seemed to be listening to his conversation more than participating in hers. Bobby thought that Eames might just be enjoying this; she didn't get to see much of this side of Bobby.

"Oh, oh my…. Well, you don't get any points for my home number, after all you admitted it was in the phone book - I had an answering service taking my calls while I was out of town, but I cancelled the service when I got back yesterday. I guess I forgot to turn on the answering machine. You also don't get a point for my agent's phone number either; she's in the book too. This is just a never ending nightmare of confusion, a comedy of errors."

That's it. Game. Set. Match. She wasn't going to have to decide whether or not how she felt about seeing Robert Goren again. Right now, he was probably reconsidering what made him think he wanted to see her again. He was probably thinking, 'what possessed me last night, what a whack job'.

"Look, if we're going on the point system, how would I know who your agent is? Let me explain, let's start over. Hi Sarah, it's Bobby. I just wanted to let you know that my partner and I are on our way to Washington to interview a witness. We're leaving in about 25 minutes; we're boarding the plane now. Our plan is to interview our witness and fly back to the city. It's probably going to be late tonight before we get back. I was sure that if I didn't take the one opportunity to call today like I said I would, there wouldn't be much use in calling at all. I'm not sure I'll have a chance to call later."

Sarah covered her eyes with her hand as she said, "Is it just me, or does seem like a lot of unnecessary, um confusion? I'm beginning to think this is just a big, big mistake. Maybe we'd both be better off if we just wrote this off as good intentions and a good idea gone badly?" Why did it seem as if she was always embarrassing herself whenever she talked to him?

"I really don't want to write this off just yet Sarah. Look, I think that it's been the good intentions of friends that has caused most of the confusion and embarrassing circumstances. That just means you have people who are really looking out for you. I can respect and understand that. But when it's just been the two of us talking, it's been all right, hasn't it? Even though it might seem we spend more time trying to sort through the confusion than anything else. We have been able to sort through it."

"You mean, my well-intentioned friends… but you have a point. But even with this newest misadventure?"

"Look at it this way. It's a great story to tell your grandkids some day. I'm not saying that they'll be our grandkids or anything like that, just that someday I'm sure you'll have grandkids. You can tell them all about this crazy guy who asked you out and all the turmoil it brought into your life for a very short period of time. Maybe you could use it as a cautionary tale. A 'Don't let this happen to you example'. Don't give up on this yet, Sarah."

A long pause. "Sarah?"

"A 'don't let this happen to you' cautionary tale. Well, that is a unique way of looking at it. All right, fine. If you still want to give this a try, sure why not? I'm game if you are."

"Good, good for you Sarah. Give me a couple of days to see where this interview leads; it's probably going to mean a little extra work for the rest of the week. Then we can see where we're at and maybe get that cup of coffee after dinner at the end of the week."

"What good would it do for me to say no? You or some well-intentioned friend would just come up with another reason why I should go ahead with it. I really don't see anyway out of this now, except to go and get this over. I'm resigned to my fate. Now, it's up to see for yourself, what a big mistake this is."

"There you go, that's the spirit." Goren laughingly replied. "Look, I'll call you when I get back, probably tomorrow. Oh, and ah, let your agent know I'm very sorry for the confusion. I really didn't think she would take it that way."

"After I get on her about no knowing better of me, I'll extend your apologies. Have a safe trip. And I guess we'll talk soon. Goodbye Bobby."

"Goodbye Sarah."

"Amanda, I can't believe you…. I really can't. This Detective Goren is someone I met at the book signing last night. He just wants me to have dinner with him. If you hadn't missed your flight from LA, you would have met him last night. And just why would you assume that I'd be in any sort of trouble? After everything that happened last night, this guy is really going to think I'm a head case."

"I'm sorry Sarah; I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I had you confused with one of my other clients. So Sarah, who is this mystery man? I know, let's go get a cup of coffee or something and you can tell me all about everything that happened last night and about this Detective of yours. You kept mentioning coffee and now I'm absolutely dying for a double shot vanilla latte."

"He's not _my_ Detective, he's not _my_ anything." Sarah spat out.

"Ho, ho, ho a little sensitive about this Detective Goren. Hmmm, well I'm not sure what that means, it's been such a long time for me, but I seem to recall that it tends to indicates interest. Kelly can we bring you something back from Starbucks?"

"Not on your life. I'm going with you. I'm not missing any of this. This is the most interesting thing that's happened in my life in weeks, and it's happening to Sarah" Said Kelly as she grabbed her bag. "Unlike Sarah's answering machine, ours does actually pick up the calls. So, what did you mean when you said, "after everything that happened last night"? What happened last night?"

Sarah ignored Kelly's question, knowing she'd ask it again later. "And I'm not going to Starbucks. I'm supporting my real friends. We're going to Espresso Stop." Sarah replied haughtily. Espresso Stop was David's business and while she was still ticked off by his reaction about last night, she wasn't going to let Amanda know about that.

"Oh, Sarah, we are your real friends. We're just not very good at it." Amanda said as she swept out of the office and made her grand exit.

Kelly and Sarah looked at each other and started laughing as they followed in the wake of the grand dame. The three women laughed as Kelly locked the outer door of Cartwright & Associates and they headed towards the elevator. So far, Kelly was the only associate.


	5. Chapter 5

Alexandra Eames had never been very comfortable flying

Alexandra Eames had never been very comfortable flying. She still didn't understand why Bobby couldn't make the trip to D.C. by himself. After boarding she began to steel herself for the mysterious and ominous noises the plane would be making in preparation for take off. Her curiosity about her partner's phone call was keeping her from fixating on the flight prep noises she was hearing. Whoever he'd talked to really had him dancing around, something she'd never witnessed before. She snuck a glance over at Bobby who appeared to be engrossed with the airline magazine. The sound of the engines starting was enough to silence the question she'd been about to ask.

Bobby knew he didn't have much time left to himself. Thankfully, the plane readying for takeoff would keep Alex preoccupied until they were up in the air. But once in the air, he knew escape was impossible. It was a short flight to DC, but not short enough. While feigning interest in the airline's in-flight magazine, to put off the interrogation for as long as possible, he'd found an article about Amer-Asian emigration that really did interest him. It was about how bi-racial adults were returning to their Asian roots to try and embrace that half of their cultural identity. From his own experience in searching for answers, he knew they'd never find what they thought they were looking for. They'd find something, and if it didn't crush their spirits, it would only lead to more questions.

Once the plane reached its cruising altitude, the flight attendants began hauling out the drink carts to get their early morning commuters hydrated for their long day's work in the nation's capital. "So Bobby, what's up with you having to explain where you're going? Do you have a new girlfriend?" Now was Alex's chance to do a little investigating. There wasn't any place Bobby for him to hide. Eames knew Bobby was no monk, but she knew little about his day-to-day personal life. He was a quirky guy, but one with more than average intelligence and a certain charm about him. She'd never known him to have any steady on-going relationship, but she knew there were women in his life from time to time, several of them even worked at One Police Plaza… But no one steady enough to rate attempts at three different numbers to explain that he wouldn't be able to call her later.

Bobby had been waiting for this, and still wasn't sure how he was going to answer this. "Ah…. No girlfriend. Ah, umm… just someone I met last night at a booking signing. So what plans did you have to cancel with Andy?" He asked, in what he knew was an attempt at changing the subject.

"Last night? Oh no, no you don't Goren. Spill it partner. I just witnessed history in the making and I need a little background to put it into context. She must have made quite the impression to rate all those attempts to get in touch with her. So, what's her name?"

Bobby smirked, "Look Alex, it's no big mystery and even less interesting. She was at a book signing I went to last night and we had a chance to talk a little, but before I'd gotten to ask all the questions I had, she'd had to return to work. I had a few more things I'd wanted to find out and I was going to try and get together with her today to find out about it - that's all."

"Back to work. What work was she doing at a book signing?"

"Signing the books."

This was going to fall into the category of professional or academic interest. Eames pictured the esoteric reading material she'd seen in Bobby's apartment the few times they'd worked from there. She couldn't imagine what a female writer of the type of books Bobby read would look like. Probably very professorial.

She'd been hoping for a littler romance for her partner. Bobby needed a constant in his life. He needed someone who could do for him personally, what she'd been able to provide for him professionally. Someone to keep him focused. Someone to keep him moving forward, to keep him from becoming too distracted. He spent far too much time alone. He needed someone who could share that time with him. To help distract him and help him to keep from obsessing about circumstances he couldn't control and never would be able to control.

"OK, but there's still the matter of her name, so what is it? What has she written? Would I know any of her work?"

Sighing Bobby realized there was little chance of avoiding this for the entire flight. "Her name is Sarah Stevens and her latest book is called 'Justice for All'. It was her book signing last night. We met, we talked, she had to go back to sign copies of her books, and I had just had a few more questions for her."

She was right. Work related. Bobby was so predictable. "Sarah Stevens. That name sounds familiar. 'Justice for All', what's that about? Criminal law, rights or procedure?"

"It's fiction. Crime fiction." Goren smiled at his partner. He knew why Eames would think that. He was a voracious reader, his head filled with arcane facts from classics to modern thinking on psychology, sociology, politics and criminal law. Very little of it would be considered light reading with the exception of the science fiction books he'd continued to read since childhood, but then she didn't know about those either. He had a theory about science fiction. He thought most science fiction was just another take on morality tales, set in future not to disguise their themes or their relationships to the problems faced everyday, but to highlight the universality of the difficulty of right versus wrong and good versus evil. Concepts that were fundamental in his work as a detective. Especially detectives like himself who were concerned with the why as well as the who and the how.

She didn't see that coming. "Crime fiction? You don't get to see enough of the real thing at work everyday?"

"There's something different in her writing. It flows well, there's a real melody to it. It's well written, well-thought out, well-plotted stories. There are not a lot of gaps or leaps in reasoning that would confuse a reader. It makes sense. Her characters are authentic and complex. No one is all bad, no one are all good. Nothing and no one are exactly as they seem. The crimes are unique and interesting. I think we're lucky that all she does is writing about these crimes. If she ever took it into her head to commit any of the things she's written about, she might just get away with them."

"Oh, come on Bobby. What are you saying, that she's written about the perfect crime? There's no such thing."

"No, not perfect. But ingenious. There's a difference. I've read two of her three books and there's definitely something pretty twisted going on in there. I think her writing is very interesting."

Sticking her neck out a little further, she asks, "So what does she look like? As interesting as her writing?" This seemed a bit more promising.

Shaking his head, "What makes you ask that Eames? I wouldn't have thought you would be so shallow." Alex receives one of those patentable Bobby Goren smirks. How was he going to describe her without completely giving himself away? Stalling, he glanced around at the other passengers. He spotted one two rows up reading 'Justice for All'. He stood and leaned forward, "Um…. Excuse me?" The woman turned, a questioning look on her face, "Could… could I just borrow your book for a moment to show my friend, she's just back there?" Pointing over his shoulder, Eames grins sheepishly at the woman and waved as a greeting. "Thank you very much." He said as he eased the book out of her hand. Turning the book over, he said, "Here you go Eames. This is Sarah Stevens."

It was a black and white photo of a nice pleasant looking young woman. She looked like she was in her early 30's, dark hair, serious looking but pretty. Still fishing, not ready to admit defeat, Alex comments, "Very nice looking. Are you going to ask her out?"

"What makes you ask that, Eames?

"The attempts at 3 different numbers you tried to reach her at before we left. And the shuffling you did once she returned your call."

Bobby turned to look at his partner and not for the first time, was confused at how well she was at reading him at times. He looked down at the book and picture of Sarah Steven he held in his hands. He turned back to look at Eames as he replied,

"Well I already did. Ask her out, that is. But she was kind of tricked into agreeing by a friend of hers, so I think she'll probably try and find a way out of before it happens, especially now."

"Well, that's really too bad. I'm sorry Bobby."

"I am too."

"I guess I don't." Even though she felt a fierce protectiveness for her partner and a great deal of admiration for him, even affection, she realized she would never have any way of knowing how much she got right about what made him Bobby Goren. He would never say. After almost a three years as Goren's partner she still wasn't sure what made him tick. She'd get glimpses sometime, but never enough to feel that she'd really discovered something important. She couldn't figure out how he was able to see what he did. She knew he was very intelligent, very intuitive and possessed a curious nature. He'd do the job he was doing free if the city wouldn't pay him for it.

Goren stretched forward as much as he could in the small commuter plane and returned the book to the still startled passenger he had borrowed it from. "Thank you… for the use of your book."

"Your welcome." She flashed him a winning and flirting smile. There was something about him. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was palpable.

She was rewarded by a Bobby Goren smirking grin and the vaguely distracted cast to his eyes got when he was already thinking about something else… As if he was aware of something going on, but not sure what it was. It never occurred to him that she might have been interested in more than just getting her book back.

With a sigh, the woman returned to reading her book. It really was an addicting story.

It had been a long frustrating day. The interview hadn't yielded any new information about the homicide case they were investigating. Goren had been more distracted than usual. This meant that Alex had been the one who questioned the reluctant ex-wife of their chief suspect. To top off her day, she'd missed her one of her few opportunities to spend an evening with Andy. His frequent business trips to London were becoming more of a problem. After six months, these trips were getting longer and more disruptive. They needed time now, in the beginning of their relationship if they were to have any chance of this becoming a more permanent situation. She wasn't sure if this was going to work out for the two of them.

She'd come to find out that there were a large group on urban professionals that were racking up the frequent flyer miles making the New York - London commute. 'Ny-Lons' they were calling themselves. She'd decided those urban professionals were unmarried and unattached - and likely to remain so.

She looked over at Goren, who was possibly asleep but most likely feigning sleep. Not that she would have thought about bringing up her relationship issues with Goren. They had a great working relationship and knew a lot about each other's backgrounds and they'd both learned to deal with each other's moods and rhythms. Bobby had taken to bringing her coffee every morning - a double shot vanilla latte, to get her day off to a jumpstart. But there were situations where Bobby was just useless, and relationship issues were one of them. It was never anything Bobby discussed with her. She considered it a real triumph that she'd been able to get as much information about Sarah Stevens as she had. They had always been able to maintain that distinction between professional and personal, even though there was real respect and affection between the two. The professional aspect of their relationship was always going to be the most important to them both.

"Ladies and Gentleman, the pilot has just been notified that we've been cleared for final approach into La Guardia airport and we should arrive at our gate, on time at 11:45." Alex sighed, another 16+-hour day. Her schedule wasn't much better than Andy's was; although it usually entailed less travel. It was no wonder both she and her partner were still single.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm not going

"I'm not going. I'm calling him and canceling. Better yet, you call him and tell him I've come down with the plague. That should scare him off once and for all."

"You're going. It's too late to cancel. He's probably there already. You would feel guilty forever if you cancelled at the last minute like this. Can't you just picture how dejected he'd look to get a call like that at the last minute? That's not you." Angie wasn't above playing the guilt card to get Sarah out in the world again.

"Well, it's not now. I don't know why I'm doing this. I still can't believe I am doing this! How could I let you railroad me into doing something I know is going to end in disaster?"

Sarah was whirling around trying to get ready for her dinner with Bobby Goren. After a few false starts and nearly a week later, they were going to meet for dinner at a restaurant near Central Park. After several phone calls, they'd decided to meet at the restaurant. Bobby would be downtown, just getting off his shift, she lived uptown and for him to pass the restaurant and pick her up and then drive back to the restaurant would be a waste of time. They decided it would be easier if they just met there. She thought he'd quickly agreed to meet at the restaurant, so that if dinner didn't go well, there would be no awkward good night at her door. Moreover, even though tonight had all the makings of another night of full-blown night of missing each other and assorted mishaps, she was trying to adopt a "que sera, sera" attitude, while at the same time completely freaking out.

Angie was sitting on the bed watching her friend try to decide what to wear tonight. She hoped Sarah wouldn't dress too conservatively. In one of their phone calls during the week, Sarah had asked Bobby how tall he was and he'd told her. After getting off the phone with him, she'd called Angie to tell her they were going shoe shopping the next day. It had been a lot of work and even a little bit of fun trying to find the highest heel Sarah could wear and still be able to walk. Even with the 4" heels Sarah planned to wear tonight she still wouldn't have any kind of advantage over the 6'4" Goren.

Sarah pulled on a shimmering green halter dress. Its draped v-neckline perfectly framed the gold locket she always wore. The rest of her accessories consisted of simple gold hoops and gold watch. That was it; she was ready to go. Simple, yet stunning. Now Angie understood why Sarah had asked to borrow her light gold-flecked shawl. It was the perfect complement for Sarah's outfit and the Indian summer the city had fallen under.

"Ohmigod Sarah. You look amazing. If I wasn't straight…."

With a nervous sigh and rolling of her eyes at the reflection of Angie she saw in the mirror, Sarah turned and said, "Oh, very funny. So this looks okay? And these shoes? Are you sure they're not too trampy?"

"Trampy?? Sarah, they're Manolo Blahnik's. They're "Sex in the City" not "Irma La Duce". No, they're not 'trampy' at all." Under her breath she muttered, "And if you play your cards right, there could be some sex in the city for you tonight."

"Angie!" Shaking her head at her friend's editorial comment, "I heard that."

"You did not. But even if you did, so what? It's true."

"That is not happening tonight. I am not going to sleep with this guy."

"I seem to recall you saying this date wasn't going to happen either, and look what you're doing, getting ready to go out on this date." Standing up, Angie smoothed out the skirt she was wearing. "If you want to get there on time, we need to get going. We need to stop and pick up David on the way before I drop you off."

Angie and David had been together for 5 years and married for the last 3 years. Business had called David away to London last week, so they'd had to delay celebrating their anniversary. Now Angie had plans to make up for that missed opportunity. It was going to be a big surprise for David, more than he would even guess. Angie had just found out she was pregnant. It was all she could do, not to blurt the news out to her best friend, but as close as Sarah was, Angie knew deep down, David had to be the first to know.

"All right, let's go and get this over with. I still can't believe I'm doing this."

'Have a little confidence, girl. This is going to be a great night. Let me call David, so we can just do a drive by. We can just slow down and he can jump in the car."

On the way to the restaurant, Sarah's nerves were drawing tighter, she was nauseous, her heart was racing and she was starting to have trouble breathing. Get a hold on yourself, she thought. She'd never dated much. She'd had her friends and hung out and there had always been a guy in the group that she went out with, eventually. It had been that way in high school. It had been that way in college. That's where she met Michael. It had begun as a wonderfully fun and caring relationship had eventually turned into a disaster of distrust, anger and pain. When she finally broke away from him, she'd turned her back on the dating world and built herself an insular world of work and home. They were her refuge, her solace. That had been her world for the last three years.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a long frustrating week for Bobby

It had been a long frustrating week for Bobby. Today had been no exception. They had spent the last several hours questioning another witness who hadn't been able to give them any more details than the previous ten witnesses had. Eyewitness accounts were not the panacea the public thought. They often brought to light more questions and discrepancies than answers and confirmation. The case was nowhere and even Captain Deakins was bearing down on them, to solve it now or cold case it. All of this was conspiring to delay his attempts to meet with Sarah. They had managed several short phone calls over the last week, even a couple at work when he was sure Eames was out of earshot. He took it as a positive sign that she still kept answering her phone and not screening her calls. They'd finally been able to arrange to meet for dinner tonight at one of the new trendy restaurants on the west side of the park. Bobby knew one of the owners and he had been after him for several weeks to come by and check out the place. It was THE new place to be seen. That didn't matter to Bobby, but it might it might impress Sarah, if only just a little. And that wouldn't be such a terrible thing. Checking his watch he realized if he hurried, he'd be able to not only shower and change before leaving the office, he'd be able to get to the restaurant before Sarah and make sure Greg got them a table with a view of the park.

Bobby had just relinquished the keys to the valet, when he noticed a new dark blue Mercedes pull up across the street. He saw Sarah getting out of the back seat. She was wearing a green dress that he knew would compliment her coloring. She bent down slightly to speak with the driver and could almost hear the laugh that her body language implied. She leaned in further and gave the driver a quick little kiss and a wide easy smile. A good friend by the looks of things.

Sarah looked right and left before she crossed the street, jaywalking. As she reached him, he said, "You know, I could arrest you for that. "

"Why? What for? Arrest me for what? What did I do?"

"Crossing in the middle of the street like that is considered jaywalking, and it's illegal. Although, I will give you brownie points for the looking both ways before crossing on a one-way street, I guess one offsets the other. I suppose I can let it slide just this once." With a wink, Bobby reached out his hand to help steady her as she stepped up on the curb.

Laughing, Sarah batted her eyelashes at him and donned a southern accent, "Why, thank you officer. That's ever so kind of you." With a comic roll of her eyes, she took his hand and joined him on the sidewalk.

"I also… um, also notice that you don't normally wear such high heels do you?" Although it wasn't the shoes he noticed first, but the way they set off her calf muscles to perfection.

Looking down at her feet, she looked up guiltily, "Um, no, I guess I don't. Ok, what was the giveaway? Is it that obvious I was trying to minimize the height difference? Well, in my defense, I was just trying to avoid getting a crick in my neck from looking up all night."

"Uh, well, you don't quite have your sea legs yet. You're a little wobbly. It's a natural instinct to shorten your stride, which you've done, but… but actually you need to lengthen your stride and relax your hips." Bobby turned and placed his hand lightly on the small of her back to guide her toward the entrance to the restaurant.

"Lengthen my stride and relax my hips? And how would you know about that?" Sarah asked with a crooked little smile.

With a wink, Bobby said, "You really don't want to know."

Laughing at being so easily busted. "Well, maybe we should just go inside?"

They walked through a canopy of lighted trees that Sarah found charming. Once inside they were shown to their table immediately. They knew him here. That seemed odd to her, it didn't seem to suit his style. It was trendy, new and a 'to be seen in' place. Not that he looked out of place; it just didn't seem like him. She came back to her biggest fear about tonight. How much did she really know about him?

They'd just ordered a nice wine when hand descended on Bobby's shoulder. "Bobby my boy, I'm so glad you've finally decided to grace my restaurant with your presence. You know, we've been open for almost 4 months and this is the first time he's been here. Can you believe it? People are slipping my maitre'd 100 bucks a pop to get a table and I can't even drag this guy in here. Great food, Expensive wines and amazing views just weren't enough. I guess I've been using the wrong incentive. Then, it's always been a little difficult to find a beautiful woman to go out with him. How'd you do it Bobby? Wen are you going to introduce the two of us, Bobby?

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea, but Sarah this is Greg Emerson. One of the owners of the restaurant. Greg, Sarah Stevens."

"A pleasure Miss Stevens."

"Oh, Sarah, please, just Sarah. It's a pleasure to meet you, Grerg. This is a wonderful place you have." Okay, he's a friend of the owner, not a regular here. So he was trying to impress her a little.

"Beauty and manners. Do you know who you're out with Sarah? I'm sure you can do much better than him. I could tell you stories…" Greg he saw the look Goren was giving him. "…well maybe later." Bending low to give the impression of whispering in Sarah's ear, he said in a stage whisper, "Meet me at the front door in fifteen minutes and we'll do the town up right."

Sarah laughed, "Well, I would have thought that doing the town up right would start here."

'It has, it has. It's where we first met." Greg remarked with mock sincerity. Sarah laughed and Bobby wanted to take a punch at Greg. "So, who DO you have to know to get some food though, huh? Do you think you have enough sway here, to get someone over here to take our order?"

With that, Greg signaled and a waiter arrived at the table. "Bobby, you know I'd never leave you hanging. I just wanted a chance to welcome you. It was a pleasure meeting you Sarah. If there is anything I can do to make your visit here more enjoyable, please don't hesitate to let me know." Greg excused himself to look after other guests, but not before he'd extracted a promise from Bobby that he would stop and say goodbye before they left.

"Your friend is funny. And this restaurant certainly seems to be a hit."

"My friend is an idiot. And any success the restaurant is enjoying must surely be the result of the efforts of his partners."

Throughout dinner, the conversation was easy and relaxed. They talked about the work they'd both done during the week. They also talked about movies, books, music, anything to find begin finding common ground. Sarah was starting to relax, not completely and not because of the two glasses of wine she had with dinner. She found herself enjoying not just listening to Bobby, but watching him talk. The way he used his hands to talk, how they punctuated his conversation, highlighted his main points. His grin was infectious and the way his brown eyes crinkled when he grinned, she found very attractive.

A band was warming up in a small area adjacent to the main dining area. It was a throw back to another era. A dance band. Bobby's eyes lit up. "Do you like to dance?"

"Like this, real and proper dancing? I'm not very good at this type of dancing." Laughing she added, "I'm more into pop and lock, and hip-hip."

Joining in with her laughter, Bobby said, "Now that is something I would pay to see."

"But, dancing like this, well, I've never done much of it. Besides, as was pointed out earlier this evening, I still don't think I have my sea legs yet."

"Real, proper dance was one of the things my mother insisted on. She believes that any young man without this social skill is not a well bred gentleman. It's one of the few social skills I am pretty good at. One of my best memories growing up was spending Saturday afternoons learning new steps and practicing with my mother. All you have to do is follow my lead."

"To quote Ginger Rogers, 'in high heels and backwards'. Well, if you don't mind a few mashed toes, a couple of bruises, and a few broken bones, I'm willing to give it a shot."

"Let's go, then. I'm a pretty big guy, I can take care of myself." Bobby led her out to the dance floor where they joined several other couples in all age ranges already on the floor. "Just relax, and follow my lead. We're not going to do anything tricky. Just follow my lead. We'll stick with the basics. No dips, no flips and no twists."

After a few false steps but no major damage to Bobby, they stayed out on the floor for several songs. Bobby really did know how to dance. And Sarah was learning that if she just relaxed and paid attention to the slight variations of pressure of Bobby's hands, she didn't make too many mistakes. A slight pull to the right, a little push to the left, a half-step closer, turn. She was also surprised that their height difference didn't seem to cause many problems. Those four inch heels she was wearing were actually pretty comfortable.

The band announced they would be taking a short break and people began to leave the dance floor. "It's gotten a little warm in here. What would you say to a walk in the safe area of the park?" Bobby asked.

"Well, first I'd say, I'd be surprised to learn that there was a safe area of the park, especially after dark. And second, sure why not. A little cool air would be nice."

They went back to their table, long enough for Bobby to pay for their meal and to say a final good night to Greg. Greg used the opportunity to try and charm Sarah again. Greg was really pouring on the charm. It was getting on Bobby's nerves, but he knew that's why Greg was doing it. Sarah looked amused, but not interested, which Bobby appreciated and Greg recognized. With a slight shrug and grin at Bobby, he wished them a good evening and went back to greeting newcomers into the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 8

They crossed to the park which Sarah was surprised to see was well lit

They crossed to the park which Sarah was surprised to see was well lit. The night was warm and the sky was clear. She could see there were many evening strollers walking off rich, over-priced dinners. They walked and talked. To anyone who saw them they seemed a study in contrasts. He was tall and big. She was short and petite. He hands clasped behind his back, hers in front using both hands to hold onto the straps of her evening bag. He tilting his head down to look at her and her tilting her head up. Again, their conversation light, easy, and unforced, often punctuated with laughter. A study in contrasts, that seemed not to be a challenge.

"So, let me ask you something. I guess, you could say it's kind of related to your work. You're a detective, a homicide detective who deals with things I can't even begin to imagine, and you show up at a book signing for an author who writes about fake crimes. Where's the appeal? I would think you'd find the way I deal with the subject is far from the reality you see everyday."

A Bobby Goren smirk, "That's almost exactly what my partner asked. I'm curious by nature, and that curiosity is nurtured by my work. One of the most important things I need to do though is keep an open mind about everything. Balancing what I think I know against what I don't know that I know and what I don't know yet. You have to make the most of what you have for as long as you have it. I find I can do my job best when I'm open to all possibilities. But then, it could just be I like the way you write."

"Wow. That's a little intense. And quite demanding - at least in regard to crime fiction." Sarah sensed she'd just learned a telling clue about Robert "Bobby" Goren's personality. Especially since he'd become quiet since that last sentence.

"We should probably head back, it's getting a little late and this is still the park…. After dark." His mood seemed to have darkened in the last minute or two.

"So much for a safe area of the park…. After dark. Sure let's go."

Bobby stepped closer to Sarah slipped his hand to the small of Sarah back to guide her as they turned around. After the turn though, instead of clasping his hands behind his back as he'd had them earlier, he slid his hand around her waist to pull her closer. Not so close that she would step away or that would interfere with walking. She looked up at him with the ghost of a smirk on her face that let him know she knew what he was doing, but not objecting yet. After all they had been closer than this while they were dancing.

"So, your friend Angie made it seem like you don't date much. I don't get that. You're intelligent, funny, attractive. You have an interesting occupation. You're easy to talk too. So it has to be your choice. Why is it your choice? I'm more than a little surprised that you didn't try harder to get out of this date. For all your grand talk, you made very little effort to avoid it and you kept accepting my phone calls and you're here."

"Well, you do make me sound like a wonderful catch. I should be out every night of the week. Partying and living it up with all the minor celebrities in town. Honestly, several times I thought about ways to get out of tonight. I'd even only halfway jokingly told Angie that she needed to call you and tell you I'd come down with the plague. But to tell the truth, I was so afraid of what Angie would do or say that I just had to keep the date. She can be downright scary."

Bobby didn't say anything. He knew how to employ silence to get people to talk. He was very good at his job.

"OK…OK. There was a bad relationship involved, an even worse breakup. It really shook me up and it's taken awhile to work through it. It really did a number on me emotionally and I'm just not finished working it all out, but I'm not a really the basket case I play. Plus, when I work, I work. I can be a little obsessive about it."

"I know a thing or two about being obsessive. And the other, well words and attitudes leave a hurt more lasting and scar deeper than physical pain."

"How did you…. guess? No, wait, you didn't guess, you knew. How? Did you check me out?"

"Not the way you mean, but yeah. I told you, I'm very good at reading people. I learned a long time ago how to size up people and situations. You're very careful with what you say. You're always polite, apologizing for minor things. They're such classic behaviors they've become cliché. Characteristics you no longer see in yourself are in the women you write about. Strong, in charge, sure of themselves. Things you no longer see in yourself, but must have been there for you to see or you couldn't write about them so convincingly. They're all still there with you Sarah. You just have to find them again."

"Wow. Ouch. Great, I'm a walking cliché." Nodding her head she stared down at her feet as she continued walking

Another smirking grin, "It's not that bad. But it really wasn't difficult. Anyone with the slightest sensitivity could see it. Plus, you're a very easy read. In casual situations you're very open, but as people get close you become more guarded. Psych 101."

Trying to salvage some dignity, Sarah joked, "Easy to read, huh? Hopefully you're referring to my books and just not my personality flaws."

Backing off a little, to allow her a little room, "Not flaws, quirks. But yes, your books are an easy read, and also quite enjoyable."

"Uh huh. Well, thank you."

From up ahead they both heard the approaching noise all pedestrians had come to fear. The sound of wheels grating on the concrete walkway; that urban plague known as skateboarders careening down on them. Bobby and Sarah stepped to the side to allow the boarders a clear shot around the curve. It turned out to be a group of 4 young kids, one of whom was heading right for them and it didn't look like he was going to be able to avoid them. Sarah went to step back behind a bench to her right. As she did the heel of her shoe broke and she sprawled back onto the grass.

The kid ran into the bench, took off and yelled back, "Sorry."

"Oh no. No, no, no, no. This can't be happening." Cried Sarah, in outrage.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. It's my shoe. My brand new shoes. My 400 pair of new shoes. I don't spend 400 on shoes; they were the only ones I could find that would give me some height that were also comfortable. I can't be-lieve this. Grrr…. Yeah, I think I'm all right. Just embarrassed. I should be getting used to it when you're around though. Sheesh! Help me up?"

Bobby extended his hand and began to pull her up when Sarah let out a shriek of pain. "Oh man, you had to mention physical pain earlier didn't you? OWWW…OWWW…. OWWW. Oh, it's my ankle; I think it's twisted or sprained. Or broken…. Is my foot hanging off at a ridiculously weird angle?"

Bobby knelt down, and unbuckled the strap across her instep and felt around Sarah's ankle. Other than flinching whenever he moved it or gently pressed on it, she didn't make a sound. "Nothing hanging at weird angles. I don't think it's broken, probably just a bad sprain. But I think we'd better get some x-rays of it to be safe. Okay, let's try this again. Give me your hand."

This time Bobby carefully lifted her up and set her on the bench. "Let's sit here a minute to catch our breaths, what do you say?"

"Sure. If you need to." Sarah grinned.

As Bobby returned her grin, he replied, "I need to."

Bobby sat and put his arm around her shoulders to support her. Soon, though she bent forward to start poking and prodding at her ankle. After a few minutes, Bobby asked, "Are you feeling up to getting out of here?"

"I'm fine. If you're sure you don't need any more rest, we can go."

"I'm sure. Smart aleck."

"OK, help me up. I'm ready to hobble back."

With that Bobby help her up to standing and then picked her up, prepared to carry her back to the restaurant. "No you don't, put me down. I can walk."

"Well I disagree. I don't think you can walk, and certainly not as far as the restaurant. Look at your ankle; it's almost twice the size of your other. Just relax and hang on."

With that, he started off up the path, back to the restaurant drawing more curious stares as they went. "What's so wrong with being inconspicuous? Wow… you really have a whole different view of the world way up here, dontcha? "

"I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess I do have a different view of things 'way up here'. And you think you'd be inconspicuous hopping back to the restaurant on one foot? I don't think so. I also don't think you could ever be inconspicuous." To hide her embarrassment, she dropped her head, which meant that she was now leaning onto Bobby's shoulder. Even though embarrassed, she was struck by how comfortable she felt, how safe.

When they reached the restaurant, Bobby set her down at a bench just outside and went in to get some ice to wrap around her ankle. The light was better here and it really didn't look broken, just bruised and swelling, getting larger by the second.

Bobby emerged with Greg and a plastic bag of ice and a towel. Greg seemed most concerned that the accident hadn't happened in the vicinity of his business. "I think once we get you to the car, we can pack the ice around your ankle and wrap it all up in the towel."

Bobby picked her up again, this time Sarah noticed his smell. Soap. Soap and maleness. Greg had gotten the valet to pull Bobby's SUV up and went ahead of them and had the car door open and waiting when they arrived. Bobby got her settled into the passenger seat and thanked Greg for his help.

While Bobby walked around to get into the driver's seat Greg wished Sarah well, and hoped that this turn of events hadn't soured her on the restaurant. Assuring him that her little accident hadn't affected her feelings about the evening, Greg leaned down, said another goodnight to Bobby and closed the door.

Bobby asked Sarah again about going to the hospital.

"Really, I'm fine. It's just a bad sprain, like you said. That's all. Although I would like to get home and get some aspirin."

"There's some aspirin in the glove box and if you don't mind it warm, I've got some bottled water in the back." Bobby hit the release on the tailgate and jumped out to grab the water.

"So what are you anyway? A boy scout. Always prepared." Sarah asked as he jumped back in the car and handed her the bottled water.

"Far from a boy scout. But I am … almost always prepared."

He leaned over and kissed her. Soft and easy. He could tell she hadn't expected it, but she didn't pull back. And after a second her hand went to cradle his face. She didn't deepen the kiss, just allowed it to continue.

"Preparation is key in any situation. And 90 of winning is in the preparation."

"Oh brother, how cliché can you get? It's a good thing that you're a cop, you'd never make any money as a writer."

Laughing, Bobby put the SUV in gear and steered into traffic. Looking back over at Sarah, he laughed again, and this time she joined in.

"I only have a general idea of where you live." He couldn't tell her that he knew where she lived, because he'd followed her home that first night to make sure she got home safely.

"You mean you didn't research that? 2676 81st Avenue."

Sarah leaned back against the head rest and closed her eyes for a second. She woke as Bobby opened the door beside her. "Okay, let me help you out."

"Home already? I guess I must have fallen asleep. But I can make it…. Awww."

"No I don't think so. A twenty minute car ride isn't long enough for your ankle to heal. Give me your keys. Hand them over"

"No keys. Just a pass code."

"What's the code?"

"Uh uh, buddy. I can enter it. I'm not completely helpless. Or stupid."

"But I'm a cop. You can trust me."

"You're still a man I don't know very well. I'll enter the pass code myself." Bobby carried Sarah up the front stoop and stopped at the keypad. Out of general curiosity, Bobby asked, "Is this keypad code the same for every one in the building?"

"No, first you have to enter the apartment number and then each apartment has its own code." As the door opened she motioned up the stairs. Bobby could see the elevator in the corner was roped off.

"Routine maintenance that was suppose to have been finished yesterday. Third floor on the left. Sorry. Now each apartment door has an entirely different pass code that we, the occupants, can change at any time. The outer door can only be reprogrammed by the management company. And inside each apartment is an alarm system. I feel pretty safe.

The door plinked open and Bobby got his first look at Sarah's apartment. It was decorated in shades of beige and gray, punctuated with shades of red. Warm dark wood tones. It looked restful and calming. Not a depressing or boring palette that you might assume beige and gray would be. What was most interesting was that it two floors. The upper floor was an open loft area and took up half as much space of the lower level. It looked like a large living/dining area, kitchen, possibly a bedroom/den and powder room downstairs.

"Um, I guess, you can just set me down over on the sofa. I don't think I'm going to want to navigate those stairs in the morning."

"Nice place. Do you own or rent?"

"Well, actually I own the building. My parents owned it and when they died, I inherited it. I used the insurance money I received to completely demo it and split it into 4 separate apartments. All four pretty much have the same floor plan. I hired a management company to run the day-to-day operations, and take care of the maintenance problems. Usually they are pretty on top of it. Except for this latest elevator jam up."

Sarah was getting settled on the sofa and Bobby gently and carefully lifted her lower leg and placed a pillow underneath to elevate her leg.

"Thanks. Geez, what else can possibly go wrong?"

"Are you sure you want to tempt the fates by asking that?"

Laughing, Sarah agreed. "I'm not sure. You could be right."

"Can I get you anything before I go?

"In my office, just down the hall there is a fluffy throw blanket. In the powder room to the left, in the medicine cabinet there's a bottle with a few Tylenol with codeine. They're leftover from a root canal a couple of months ago. If you could grab those for me too, I'd be forever grateful."

"Forever, huh?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Forever." With a big grin and a shooing motion with her hands, she added, "I … I think the bottle is on the top shelf in the medicine cabinet."

He went to get the blanket and pills. By the time he returned, Sarah had fallen asleep again. The wine with dinner, the shock of the fall, the pain and the aspirin she'd already taken were enough to knock her out once she let herself relax a little. Bobby decided he should stay, in case she woke up and needed anything. A trip to the bathroom. More water. Anything. He'd be there to help. At least tonight.

He turned off the lights except for the one from the bathroom so there was just enough light for him to see the outline of her on the sofa. He took off his jacket, loosened his tie and slipped off his shoes. He sat down and stretched out in the chair opposite and put his feet up on an ottoman. It was now after 1:00 am and his day had started 20 hours earlier, he didn't think being tired after a long day like this made him too much of a wimp.


	9. Chapter 9

Several hours later, Sarah woke to a sound that startled her

Several hours later, Sarah woke to a sound that startled her. It was the sound of the raspy heavy breathing. She froze, and didn't dare draw a breath. This had long been her worse nightmare. What if he'd truly found her this time. Slowly she turned to survey her apartment. It took her a minute to remember what had happened tonight. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she was able to make out a figure in the chair opposite her. It was Bobby. He must have stayed to see that she would be all right.

With a deep breath and a sigh of relief, Sarah called out, "Bobby? Bobby, wake up. You're snoring."

She saw Bobby jerkt, and noticed it took him a minute to get his bearings. "Sarah, I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

"Oh no, Bobby it's okay, really. Just go and lie down, that chair can't possibly be very comfortable. There's the guest room just down the hall, opposite my office. Please. Go and lie down. Stretch out. Try to get comfortable."

"Only if you come with me. So I can keep an eye on you."

"Keep an eye on me, like you were just now, when you were asleep?"

"Even better, because if you move, I'll feel it. And now that you know I'm here; if you need anything you can just nudge me."

Once again, Bobby picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. Mentally she gave him bonus points for not knocking either her head or her ankles on any of the door frames, and for not just depositing her like a sack of potatoes on the bed. She slid over to the far side of the bed to allow him plenty of room. Bobby lay back with a sigh of relief as he stretched out his tight back muscles. He got himself settled and turned over on his side, so that he was facing Sarah, Sarah was adding another pillow under her ankle and then too laid back with a sigh. "Do you want anything? Need anything? Why don't you take that Tylenol you never got around to earlier."

"Maybe you're right. That would probably be a good idea. Thanks."

Bobby got up and grabbed the pills and some fresh water.

After taking the glass back he suggested that Sarah lie on her right side, that would raise her injured ankle even more. She did, but felt a little uneasy with her back now toward Bobby; she couldn't see what he was doing. But the light went out and she could hear Bobby getting resettled. She was already slipping into sleep when she thought she felt him stroking her hair and thought she heard Bobby whisper, "Everything is going to be fine from now on."

Sarah opened her eyes to bright light. Again, it took her awhile to get her bearings. She wasn't in her bed and she wasn't in bed by herself. This was the spare room. Bobby was on his side, next to her, she could feel his weight on the bed, his breath on her hair, his left arm draped over her and his fingers entwined within hers. She wasn't sure how she felt about this development in the long term, but it felt good, for now. She felt safe, safe and protected. Something she hadn't felt since she was a teenager just before her parents died. She realized she wasn't in any hurry for this to change.

"Bobby, Bobby are you awake?"

"No. Go back to sleep."

"I can't. I gotta pee. And I can't crawl over you or around you."

Bobby got up and allowed Sarah to scoot out. "Do you need help into the…."

'No, I'm fine, seriously I can just hop. Three giant hops and I'm there."

A few minutes later Sarah was back, "Move over. I'm doing pretty good with the whole balancing on one foot thing, but I'm not sure for how long."

Bobby slid over enough to allow her enough room to lie down. He was on his back, completely stretched out. Sarah slid back onto the bed, on her side and propped her head in her hand. "I'm surprised you stayed all night. Thank you. That was really very sweet of you, but not necessary as you can see. I can manage quite well on my own."

"Sure, you can. But why should you have to?" Bobby could smell soap and toothpaste. "Excuse me a minute, my turn."

Bobby also made use of the soap and some mouth wash he'd noticed in the medicine cabinet last night… well early this morning. Instead of having Sarah slide over again, Bobby climbed over her. Pausing long enough to plant a kiss on her forehead.

Sarah started laughing. "I see you found the toothpaste too. Too bad I don't also have a razor you could borrow, that's some stubble you've got there." Stroking his jaw line, she said, "A very heavy beard."

"Not the toothpaste. No toothbrush, only a little mouthwash."

Sometime later, Bobby asked what time it was.

"Ah, it's almost 9:30."

"Oh man, I've got to get going. I have an appointment at 11:00."

"Well you can take a shower here, but I really don't have a razor you can use." Raising her uninjured leg she said, "I'm a waxing girl…"

Bobby reached out and ran his fingertips down her leg. "Very nice. But I need to make a few stops before my appointment and change clothes. I've really got to go." Quickly trying to brush out some of the wrinkles in his shirt and pants, he was ready to go before they'd finished talking. "Are you going to be all right today? Is there anything I can get you before I leave? Breakfast, something to eat."

"No, I'll be fine. Really. I'll call Angie and make her come over and keep me company today."

"And give her a blow by blow description of last night…"

"Probably. I'm really surprised that she hasn't called by now."

"How about tonight though? Who's going to look after you tonight?"

"Well, again, as I keep trying to impress upon you. I don't need someone to look after me tonight. But, I was hoping maybe you'd want to maybe come over and hang out. We could… well you could pick up a couple of movies and maybe pizza or something. I'm not looking forward to going through that whole interview process that Angie will want to use all the time now. You know, not everyone can meet her exacting standards."

"True enough. How I was able to sneak through the interview process is a mystery to me then. Um… Look, I really do have to go, now. Ummm…. So, how about tonight, about 7 o'clock? I could pick up that pizza, or Chinese food, you like Chinese food, don't you? Thai? Whatevery you want."

"That sounds really nice. Nice and comfortable. If I have a choice though, I vote for Chinese."

"All right. I do have to go. But how 'bout a goodbye kiss?" Sarah rose up to a kneeling position and kissed Bobby. "That wasn't a goodbye kiss, that was a hello kiss. I wish I had time for more. But I really gotta go…. Okay 7 o'clock. Chinese food and some good action/adventure movies."

"No, comedies, or classics, even better a couple of murder mysteries. What could be better for a real life detective and a murder mystery writer than a murder mystery movie?" With a sigh she flopped back on the back, jostling her ankle that really did hurt. As soon as she heard the door close behind him, Sarah rolled over and dialed Angie's phone number.


	10. Chapter 10

Bobby made it to Carmel Ridge just as visiting hours were starting

Bobby made it to Carmel Ridge just as visiting hours were starting. He'd even had time to stop and pick up some flowers. She really liked it when he brought her flowers. At least on those occasions when she was aware of what was going on. He hoped she was having a good day. He really needed her to be having a good day today. Although it was just he and his brother now, it was always his brother or his father she asked for when she was having a bad day. He hoped that she recognized him today. It always hurt him to have to pretend to her that he was his brother or father.

As he stepped out of the elevator, he ran into the Charge Nurse on the floor who greeted him. "Hello Bobby. She's waiting for you. She's having a real good day. Actually she's had a very good week. The change in meds that Doctor Silvestri put her on really seem to be working much better for her. I think today might even be the day you can get her to go outside and get some fresh air. And see the flowers in our gardens."

"You really think she'll go outside? She hasn't let me to take her outside in months. It's really good to hear that she's doing well. Thanks Anita." This is turning out to be a good day for everyone today." This could just turn out to be a very good day. It was always difficult to tell from their daily phone calls just how well his mother was doing or how well she wasn't doing.

He walked down the hall and paused just before he entered, as always steeling himself before entering, just in case.

"Hi Mom."

"Bobby! Look Vera, I told you my son Bobby was going to come visit today." Frances Goren was sitting in a chair by the window playing cards with her roommate. "Maybe we can get him to escort us around the grounds today. It looks like it's a beautiful day. Who wouldn't want to be seen with two gorgeous women like us, huh Vera?"

"It sure looks like it's shaping up to be a wonderful day." Bobby said as he walked over to give his mother a kiss and hand her the flowers."

Vera got up and said, "I"ll be back in a few minutes. And when I get back, I'll be ready for that escort." Vera ran her hand across Bobby's shoulders as she walked by. As she turned to look back at mother and son, she caught Bobby's looking at her, smiling his thanks for these few minutes alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Sarah was amazed at how effortlessly she and Bobby had fallen into a pattern, a rhythm

Sarah was amazed at how effortlessly she and Bobby had fallen into a pattern, a rhythm. It had been almost six months since their first dinner and she was amazed at how comfortable she was around him. Even though, not everything was perfect about their situation. For so long she'd obsessed about the baggage she would bring to any relationship, she hadn't considered that anyone else would have their own baggage to carry.

Bobby would occasionally show up in a funk that nothing she did seemed to help. He'd told her, that when he got like that there wasn't anything she could do, nothing he needed her to do. It would pass, in its own time. He never took these moods out on her. He never yelled, never blamed her. He never got violent. He went inside himself. He even seemed to shrink. It didn't take long for her to figure out that most of these bad days were Saturdays. Not always, but most often. Saturdays were the days he would go visit his mother at Carmel Ridge. Carmel Ridge was the mental Health facility his mother had committed herself too when her schizophrenia advanced to the point where she couldn't handle living alone anymore. It had been several years now, Bobby's schedule was unpredictable, although he always managed to call her everyday, he didn't have the regular schedule needed to care for someone who needed routine to manage her illness. Bobby had a brother, Frank who unfortunately was unable to deal with their mother's illness and didn't have much contact with her or Bobby. Bobby didn't talk about his relationship with his brother, so to say there were some issues was an understatement.

She had started out dragging him down to Donovan's Pub, a corner bar that provided a place to hang out with her friends, although mostly the friends were just Angie and David. Other regulars there were always entertaining and readily available to join in a game of pool or darts. Drinking was not the big draw, it was the atmosphere and camaraderie the place exuded. Lately, she hadn't had to drag him down there. Bobby genuinely seemed to enjoy going there, he'd gotten to know a few of the other regulars and he could talk to anyone anyway. David and he had discovered some common interests and though they hadn't pursued these interests without the girls, they had developed a friendship that didn't require Angie or Sarah to bring them together.

When they were playing pool, Bobby would most often stake out a bar stool and take up residence. She'd lean back against him between shots and he would wrap an arm around her neck and speak very quietly into her ear. She thought that was incredibly sexy. In a smoky barroom pool hall filled with people. Angie and Sarah had discussed this and they'd agreed, definitely sexy. Angie never failed to remind both of them that if she hadn't forced the issue, none of this would be happening. Sarah had to admit that Angie was right and she always made sure that Angie knew how much she appreciated her interjecting herself into her life. Not that Angie was likely to let Sarah forget it.

There was only one extravagance that Bobby seemed to indulge himself in - Mets season tickets. Bobby was a baseball super-geek. He'd played both baseball and basketball as a kid and once admitted he'd hoped to make it to the major leagues, in either sport. Things hadn't worked out that way. In high school Bobby realized his efforts weren't getting him the attention he craved from his father, it hadn't been difficult for him to give up either. When his father left, he'd gotten a job to help out with the family finances. The experience had left him with a permanent disgust for basketball, probably because that had been his father's favorite of the two sports. But it hadn't soured Bobby on baseball. Every game he could go to, he did. When the team was on the road, he'd follow them on sports radio and the internet. Sarah enjoyed baseball and liked going to the games with him. She didn't have a favorite team or a favorite player or know the stats of a player from 10 years ago memorized but she got a kick out of him talking about games from 20 - 30 years ago and getting as excited about them as if they were being played today. It was also another thing David and Bobby had in common.

And the cars. Oh, the cars, classic cars, muscle cars of the 60's and 70's, antique cars. He loved them. Loved going to car shows and talking about cars. Now that was a little less interesting. She really didn't understand all the car talk. Compression, ratio, slip, manifold pressure, blah, blah, blah. None of that made sense to Sarah, and she didn't think she cared enough to make the effort to want to learn about them. That was OK. She'd met several of his motor-head buddies and discovered there was a bit of a history among them that might have caused his superiors in the police department to wonder how he could have avoided a juvenile arrest record. Nothing serious though, really very innocent kid stuff, compared to the serious problems kids were getting themselves in now. Even though, Bobby often seemed alone. There were people in his life that mattered to him, and who cared about him.

Sarah realized she didn't have to like everything Bobby did, just like he didn't have to like or enjoy everything she did. She liked going to the park, to ride her bike and roller blade. She could occasionally get him to join her jogging, but mostly he preferred to go to his gym or use the treadmill in his apartment. They had different philosophies about keeping fit, but worked at it.

They'd been dating almost 3 months, when Sarah finally met Bobby's partner, Alexandra Eames. Alex and her boyfriend Andy Davenport met them for dinner one night. She liked Alex and Alex seemed to like her. Alex had teased Bobby that she could tell there was a woman in his life, because his clothes were ironed more often than not lately. She also joked that she was glad that Sarah didn't look exactly like the photo on her book jackets. She looked very stern in it. And older. Andy was a riot. Very friendly, very funny. Really easy-going. Much like Bobby and herself, Alex and David seemed to be opposites. So maybe that old adage about opposite attracting really was true.

Soon after this first dinner, Bobby and Alex had inherited a difficult case and had spent a lot of extra hours working it. After several broken dates and an endless round of phone tag, Sarah drove by Bobby's apartment on her way home from Angie's one night. She could see his light was on and had pulled over. She was calling him on her cell when he answered the door. He looked really tired, completely drained. He'd just gotten home himself and her heart went out to him. He worked so hard and she knew it wasn't always easy for him. He asked her if she'd stay over. As they were getting into bed, Bobby asked her a question she'd never stopped to consider. He asked her if it bothered her that he spent so much of his time with Alex, another woman. She admitted that she'd never thought about it, but she would now. She laid her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. She didn't give it another thought. The next morning though, while making breakfast for them she reminded him of his question. One he now admitted he had been too tired and stupid to ask. She assured him, it was a valid question, just one she hadn't thought about, but probably should have. She knew that they were close, they worked well together, looked out for each other, the way partners should. There was respect, friendship, and professionalism between them. This was a huge asset for them. Maybe because she knew when she'd met Bobby that his partner was a woman, and that she was seeing someone made a difference. She also trusted Bobby. If anything were going on with Alex, she just assumed that Bobby wouldn't be with her. End of story. Now that he knew where the she stood on the subject, if they're were any changes in circumstance he'd better let her know about it.

Things were going nicely with her work too. Her fourth book 'An Abdication of Rights' had been turned in and she was being kept busy running back and forth from her editors. There wasn't much to rewrite, just a few passages and a few additions. The book was almost ready for the printers for its initial release in two months. There was some discussion on delaying the release date. It had been a little less than a year since "And Justice For All" had been released and there was some concern that they were going to wind up diluting sales from both books with such an early release date.

Sarah distanced herself from this as much as she was able, and to let Amanda and her publisher hash out these details. She wasn't anxious to embark on another book tour and promotion schedule. After the success of 'Justice for All' Amanda had been able to get a hefty new book contract for Sarah, another three book deal. Sarah already had outlines written for all of them. Amanda kept telling her to slow down. She didn't have to get these books written all at once. Sarah didn't understand what the problem was in getting her part finished as soon as possible even if they didn't submit the manuscripts until much later. A writer wrote when the mood struck.

Just when Sarah thought things were going really well, and had gotten a little complacent, and had let her usual paranoia slip, something happened that threw her for a loop. It had all really come to a head one Saturday after Bobby had returned from visiting his mom.

He'd always been tightlipped when the subject of his mother and her condition came up. He had only reluctantly told her about the extent of his mother's schizophrenia and how she'd come to be hospitalized. He didn't include Sarah in his visits to his mother. She wasn't even sure his mother knew about her. It wasn't a part of his life he shared. He never asked Sarah if she'd like to meet her, or talk to her. He never asked her to accompany him to Carmel Ridge. Sarah thought he just needed more time to realize that it wasn't going to scare her away.

She tried not to push him and tried to give him the time he needed to work up to letting it progress to the next step. In the meantime, she checked out several books and websites and tried to educate herself about schizophrenia. Through her reading, she also thought she'd found out Bobby's deepest fear.

She'd learned that schizophrenia ran in families and was inheritable. Most often, those inheriting the disease were males. It showed up in the early to mid twenties although it was almost as likely to appear later, in the late thirties and early forties. Bobby had passed the first age range, but was now in the middle of the later range. She knew that played a huge role in his life, in his choices.

Sarah didn't know if he was afraid of how she'd react to his mom or how his mom would react to her. There were times when he'd be on the phone with his mom when he was with Sarah, but he might as well have been alone for all he acknowledged her presence. She had never heard him mention her to his mother. She supposed it was possible he did when he visited. The question that plagued her was who was he protecting? Was it her, his mother or him?

On this particular Saturday, they had plans to meet Angie and David for dinner. Bobby had said he'd pick her up at 7:00. After waiting for over an hour for Bobby, and not being able to reach him at his apartment or on his cell phone, Sarah left a message telling him she'd gone to meet them for dinner and she asked him to call when he got the message. One thing she'd decided after breaking away from Michael is that she wouldn't put her life on hold for anyone. There had been times when Bobby would call and cancel plans. He'd say that it had been a bad day and he wouldn't be good company. She'd been disappointed, but she understood. But until now, Bobby had always called.

She tried his cell phone and his apartment several times during the night, and never got an answer. She'd told Angie and David that Bobby had been called into work, but she knew they weren't buying the excuse. Finally, after dinner and saying goodnight to Angie and David, she'd taken a cab over to Bobby's apartment. She was lucky enough to get a driver willing to wait while she went up to check his apartment. She'd rung the buzzer and waited. She hesitated before using the key, he'd given her a key for emergencies, and while this didn't strictly apply, she used it anyway. As soon as she did, she knew it had been a waste of time; he wasn't there. Hurrying back to the cab, she tried his cell phone again. Slamming the cab door in disgust when it went straight to his voice mail, she'd given the driver her address. This time she didn't even bother leaving a message. She didn't know whether to be worried about his health and safety or angry at his disappearing act.

When the cab pulled up in front of her building, she got out and paid the cabbie, thanking him for waiting earlier and rewarding him with a generous tip. As she turned to walk up the stairs she saw his figure sitting on the top step. She slowly walked up the steps, stopped and sat down next to him. As she did, she could smell whisky and cigarettes.

"So…."

Bobby had been sitting there with his head resting in his open hands. Turning to face her, all he could say was, "I'm sorry."

"Hmm, hmm. Um, you know, I was worried about you. I didn't know if were hurt or if you'd been in an accident. You didn't answer your phone or return my calls…."

"I turned my phone off. I needed some time."

"What happened? Is your mother all right?" Sarah reached out to rub his back.

"No, no she isn't." He'd always been able to handle his mother's illness, once he'd known what it was, what was wrong with her. There were times when she'd have a bad reaction to her medication, or she'd forget or pretend to take her meds and the aftermath of an incident like that always left him feeling lost and unsure of how to help her. Then there was always the deeper fear that what he was seeing was his own future.

"What happened?" Concerned now, Sarah reached out for his hand, but stopped when she saw Bobby stiffen.

"Nothing happened. There was nothing, no recognition, nothing. Her delusions, her mania were so strong. I… I've never seen her so out of it before. I thought they'd taken her off her medication. She didn't know me, she had no idea who I was."

Reaching out she wrapped both her hands around his. "Bobby, I so sorry. I….. I don't what else to say. I know there's nothing I can do that will make this easier. I wish I had some words of wisdom that would help, but we both know there aren't. I just wish you didn't have to go through this. Has anything like this happened before?"

With a sigh, Bobby said, "There have been times when she's gone off her meds - refusing or forgetting to take them or when her Doctor changed the dosage or type of medication - but even then, it wasn't as bad as this. I've never seen her like this before. I don't… I don't know."

"You know, it might help if you'd talk about this. I know I don't know much about your mom or her situation, you've told me very little, but I'm not afraid of what you might say. I've done some reading about her condition and…. And the pressure it can put on families. I guess, I'm saying that you don't have do this all alone anymore. You never had to do this all alone."

Bobby knew she was right. He should talk to her, share this part of his life. But he couldn't. So to deflect the pressure to talk about himself, he said, "Just like you've told me all about Michael DeVry?"

Sarah caught her breath and released his hand, "What? Um… okay, we're not talking about me now. You're upset about how your visit with your mom went today at Carmel Ridge. If you don't want to talk about it fine, but changing the subject to me and Michael isn't going to help you any with whatever you're going through with your mother."

"I'm just thinking if you want me to bare my deepest fears, you should do the same." Bobby's voice was cold and hard.

Sarah sat there silently searching Bobby's face, for any clue that might explain his behavior. From her reading, she knew that his biggest fear was that he would develop schizophrenia or pass it on to any children he might have. But to direct his fear, anger, and frustration by lashing out at her wasn't fair and she wasn't going to put up with it.

Maybe she hadn't told him everything about Michael. She'd told him about how hurtful that relationship had been and how difficult it had been for her to break free of it. But she had, and she knew she'd overcome many of her insecurities and gained much of her confidence back, in large part due to Bobby's understanding. She knew it. He knew it. She'd told him how much he'd helped her see that it had been Michael's need to dominate and control her and that she couldn't take on any of the blame. She was actually a very strong woman who had come through a difficult situation with most of herself intact. Seeing only the anger in his face now, she realized it was not the time to bring any of this up now.

"Um… ah, I guess now is not really the time to talk about any of this, is it? I'm going to go upstairs and I think you should just go home." She'd tried to say this in a neutral voice, but it came out shaky and pained.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Now isn't the time." Bobby stood and walked off leaving Sarah on the steps.


	12. Chapter 12

Several days had passed since Bobby had stalked off

Several days had passed since Bobby had stalked off. He'd been sullen at work and easily provoked. Alex had assumed that he and Sarah had a little fight. By Thursday, as Bobby walked in carrying a cup of Alex's favorite vanilla latte, she couldn't stand it anymore. "What is it Bobby? What happened between you and Sarah?"

Bobby set her coffee down and walked over to his desk and just fell into his chair, slumped and head down, he whispered, "What do you think happened Eames? I blew it."

"You don't think she knows what she needs to know about you? I think she does. She's a bright girl, Bobby. You're always saying she doesn't give herself enough credit, well I think you don't give her enough credit either. You need to give both of you a break, and see what happens."

Shaking his head and waving his hand, "It's… it's not that easy."

"It's as easy or as difficult as you want to make it, Bobby. Call her. Make it right." Eames got up and walked away, before she hauled off and really let him have it for being even blinder about his relationship than she was with hers.

He hadn't called her then, but Bobby found himself parked outside Sarah's apartment building after work, trying to decide how to make it right, how to explain himself. He looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror and sighed. A soft tapping on his side window startled him. He turned and saw that it was Sarah. She must have walked down the street from the other direction. She had two bags of groceries from the bodega up the street. Rolling down the window, he heard her say, "Give me a hand with the bags?"

"Sure." He opened the door, grabbed his keys and rolled up the window. "Let me take those."

"Good, then I can also grab the mail on the way up." It had been a long week for Sarah as well. For all her talk about not putting her life on hold for anyone, today had been the first day she'd left her apartment all week. Normally being locked up in her apartment yielded several new chapters, not this time, she hadn't done any work at all. She hadn't been motivated to do anything at all. In fact, if she hadn't had meetings today with Amanda and her publisher she'd still be inside her apartment. Also, she didn't have any food left in the apartment and she was tired of having take out delivered.

When Sarah came out of the bodega, she'd spotted Bobby's car parked outside of her apartment and her heart leapt into her throat. "Oh please", she thought, "please, let this mean whatever happened the other night is over."

When she tapped on the window of his car, she had a moments' fear that he might just start the car and drive off. She decided to act as if nothing had happened. It had just been a week since they'd seen each other, nothing more, and had asked him to help her with her groceries.

Stopping to pick up the mail and the papers - something she hadn't done in days - she glanced up at Bobby to see if he noticed the quantity was more than a normal day's worth of mail. He'd walked over to push the call button to the elevator. As the door slid open, he held it for her.

"Thanks." She said as she smiled up at him.

"You're welcome." He replied with a smirk.

Punching in the code to unlock her door, she nodded to the kitchen, and said, "Just throw those bags over on the counter for me, would you?"

With a nod, Bobby did just that and started to empty the contents on the counter. It looked like she had the makings for Italian tonight. Fresh pasta, tomato sauce, a mixed greens salad mix and a loaf of fresh bread, and a bottle of red wine…

"Yeah, that's what it looks like, it's Italian night. Would you like to stay? If it helps you decide, I also have a little leftover cheesecake for dessert." The little bit of leftover cheesecake was all that was left of a binge the other night.

"Yes, I'd like to stay, very much."

"Well, good, then you get to help. Why don't you put some music on and then open up that wine. After the day I've had, I could use a little alcohol to take the edge off, you know? I'm just going to run upstairs and change out of this suit and then I'll start on dinner. I had another meeting with Amanda and my publisher today, so I had to look a little more polished than my usual jeans and t-shirt."

"I hear that." Bobby thought. Bobby chose a soft jazz station and went out to the kitchen to open the bottle. Sarah came down in bare feet wearing jeans and a tank top - the day had been still was very warm.

Bobby handed her a glass. Reaching out to his glass, she clinked them together, "Cheers" she said, before gratefully taking a healthy gulp.

"Cheers." Bobby raised his glass in salute.

"Oh, thanks, I really needed that. Let me get started on this sauce. I hope you're hungry."

Sarah dumped the store bought sauce into a pan and began to chop up some fresh herbs - oregano and basil to add to the sauce. She'd grabbed a clove of garlic and then thought better of it. Not tonight.

"I'm always ready to eat, you know that." Bobby sat at one of the bar stools surrounding the island Sarah was working at. Staring into his wine glass he ventured to bring up the scene from the other night. "Um… um, about…."

"No, no about, ok. Let's just have a nice dinner. This won't take long to throw together. What do you think about sitting out on the 'terrace'?"

The terrace was nothing more than a 5-foot wide strip of tile just off the landing before the stairs. Sarah opened cabinets and drawers and began to pull out place settings and silverware, napkins and tablecloth.

"OK, no about. I'll set up." Bobby grabbed the tablecloth and silverware.

"I think it'll be easier if I serve from in here and we can just carry our plates outside."

"Ok, sounds good." Bobby flicked the light switch to the terrace and the string of mini lights he'd strung up at Christmas fluttered. Sarah had liked the look so much; she'd decided to leave them up year round, for evenings just like this. He found a couple of candles on the bookshelf near the doors and took them outside too.

Bobby walked back and picked up his wine glass. Sarah saw this as an opportunity. She picked hers up, clinked glasses with his again, and said, "I've missed you this week."

"About that…." he started.

"Remember, tonight is a no 'about that' night. I just want you to know that I missed you. All I want to know is, did you miss me this week?"

With a catch in his voice, he said, "Yes. I did, very much."

"Well then, I think the only thing left to do is, eat dinner." The timer she'd set to alert her when it was time to pull the bread out of the broiler went off. She served up their pasta, salad, threw a couple of slices of bread in a basket and said, "Grab the bread and wine, and meet me on the terrace."

They sat and Sarah began to recount her day with Amanda and her publisher. He wanted extensive edits on her book, and both Sarah and Amanda thought the book was fine the way it was. They suggested sending it to a few more readers and getting their input on it, before starting on the edits he wanted. Sarah's telling of the day and comments that Amanda had uttered under her breath about the publisher, Daniel Brendan had both laughing and enjoying dinner.

Over that cheesecake Sarah mentioned, Bobby started to bring up the events of last week and had Sarah interrupting again.

"Bobby, I'm serious. Why can't you just let this go? No, 'about that'. It's over. We both started something that neither of us is ready to get into. Not then, not now, and maybe never. We both know there are things that probably need to stay off limits, we just need to honor that. Maybe there will be a right time and right place. That wasn't it. And this isn't it. Let's just table it for now, and maybe a better time will come."

Bobby drank the rest of his wine and nodded his agreement. If she was willing to allow things to remain the same, he could too. He left early that night, but they'd made plans to have dinner again tomorrow night. As she closed the door after Bobby had gotten onto the elevator, she breathed a sigh of relief as she thought, 'We got through this one. What about the next one?"


	13. Chapter 13

"So, what's your day like today

"So, what's your day like today?" Bobby asked as he walked into the kitchen of his apartment. He saw that Sarah had just spooned a larger than lady-like amount of cereal into her mouth. She was such a contradiction, this tiny petite woman who had the appetite of a horse.

Picking up her coffee mug and finally swallowing her cereal, she replied, "I have a lunch meeting with Amanda to go over the final layout for the book jacket and check the galley proofs. Before that, I'm heading over to Angie's to see the baby."

"Say hello to all of them for me. Sounds like more fun than my day. Eames and I have a progress report to give to Deakins and Carver. Unfortunately, we have no progress to report."

"But you've only had the case for a few days. If it were easy, they wouldn't have assigned it to Major Case and they wouldn't have assigned it to you and Alex. You'll figure it out. If they let you work on it and didn't keep pulling you in for meetings."

"Thanks for the defense. When the Chief of D's calls us all on the carpet for not clearing this case quickly enough, you can explain it to him." He planted a kiss on the top of her head as he made his way over to the fridge to grab the OJ.

"Okay, you just give him my numbers. You know all my numbers don't you?" With a smile, Sarah got up and walked over to where Bobby stood drinking the orange juice from the container, to give him a big hug. "Ugh, do you have to drink from the container? Gross."

Bobby put the container down and reached down around her to pull her close again as she began to pull away. "Not so quick. Good morning, you." Bobby leaned down to give Sarah her first real kiss of the day - hopefully the first of many.

"Hmmm…. Good morning to you too, Detective Goren." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his chin. "Well, what time is your meeting with Deakins and Carver?"

"Early, 9:00 o'clock. I have to get going. I'm picking Alex up, her car's in the shop and Andy has a meeting across town and can't drop her off."

"Well, then you should get going. Let me escort you to the door then, even though I'm sure you know the way since it is your apartment."

Bobby picked up his notebook while Sarah grabbed his suit jacket and helped him on with it.

"Call me later?"

"Definitely." Wrapping his arms back around her, he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Will I be seeing you tonight?"

"Ahhhhh…" Pulling back a little, Bobby looked down into her eyes. He knew today was not going to be a good day at work. He didn't want to make any promises.

"OK, we'll see how things work out."

Playing out a ritual that had begun shortly after they began seeing each other off for the day, Sarah said, "OK now, let's be careful out there." This had been a catch phrase from the 80's cop show, "Hill Street Blues".

"Yes ma'am, I will be. And you, you write good today."

"Write _well_ today, not 'good'. Yes sir, I will try."

"There is no try. Do or do not." Good old Yoda.

Laughing both Sarah and Bobby kissed again in the open doorway and she pushed Bobby out the door and closed it in his face. She waited for a count of ten, and then opened the door. Bobby was still waiting for the elevator. Laughing, running out into the hallway in her pajamas and robe she threw herself into Bobby's arms to give him a big goodbye kiss.

"That's not a goodbye kiss. That's a hello kiss." The elevator doors opened just then and Bobby stepped back and onto the elevator. As the doors shut, Sarah leaned forward and whispered, "I love you, Bobby Goren."


	14. Chapter 14

Sarah left Bobby's apartment a few minutes later after tidying up her breakfast dishes

Sarah left Bobby's apartment a few minutes later after tidying up her breakfast dishes. She needed to shower and change before going to her meeting with Amanda. Which left her about two hours to spend with Angie and 3-month old Sean. A new baby hadn't left much time for the two women to hang out together. Something they both missed. They were still trying to find a new routine. Well, today was their chance to catch up a little.

Sarah called Angie from her cell phone as she pulled into the driveway outside David and Angie's apartment to give her a chance to buzz her in.

As Angie opened the door of their apartment, Sarah reached out and grabbed young Sean out of his mother's arms. "Hello, my precious angel. You've gotten so big. It's been too long since I've seen you baby."

"I remember when people, especially you, used to speak to me."

"Oh, hello Angie, how are you doing?" Winking, with a wicked grin on her face, she grabbed Sean out of his mother's arms. She knew this was getting to be a pet peeve for Angie. People really showered new babies with attention, which was leaving this first time mom a little out of the loop.

"I'm doing just fine, thank you very much for asking. You look very good with a baby. When are…"

Looking back over her shoulder Sarah warned, "Don't finish that sentence."

"But things with Bobby are going well, aren't they?"

"Yes, but how long were you and David married before you guys had Sean? I've known Bobby for less than a year."

"But you look so right holding Sean and Bobby's great with him. You should think about it. Things are still going well with you guys aren't they?"

"Yes. They are. But, sometimes….."

"Because of his mom?" Angie knew about his mom's schizophrenia.

"Not just his mom. You know, just the completely dysfunctional family dynamic. He hasn't quite worked all that out yet. And I haven't worked out all my problems either."

Sean chose that moment to gurgle which caused the two women to smile and giggle at him. It also changed the course of their conversation, much to Sarah's relief. The next hour and a half passed quickly and pleasantly, with a decision to make plans for the two couples to get together on the weekend.


	15. Chapter 15

Sarah had tried to call Amanda before she left Angie's apartment

Sarah had tried to call Amanda before she left Angie's apartment. She thought it made more sense to stop by and pick up Amanda and the two could ride to the restaurant together, instead of driving separately. All she got was the answering machine. That wasn't too surprising. There were times when Amanda and Kelly were both out of their office at the same time. She left a message anyway, saying she was on her way to the restaurant and would see her soon.

Walking into the restaurant, Sarah looked around for Amanda but didn't see her yet. The girl at the reservation book greeted her and Sarah explained she was meeting Amanda Cartwright for lunch, but it looked like she hadn't arrived yet.

The girl verified that Amanda had a reservation and that she hadn't arrived yet. But the table was ready and Sarah was welcome to wait for her there or over at the bar.

"The table please, if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, Miss Stevens."

Sarah looked surprised that the young woman called her by name. "I've read all your books." She said as way of explanation.

"Well, I'm here today to look over and approve the final copy of the book jacket for a new book. It should be out in about 2 months."

"I read the excerpt at the end of the last one. It looks like it's going to be another good one."

"I hope so."

Arriving at the table, the girl asked if there was anything she'd like right now.

"Could I get and ice tea with lemon?"

"Certainly, right away, I'll have Kristi bring one."

The server brought the tea over and left menus, which Sarah glanced through while waiting for Amanda.

After waiting 20 minutes, Sarah ordered asked for a refill on her ice tea and reached for her cell phone to try Amanda again. There was still no answer at the office or Amanda's cell phone. Sarah decided to try Kelly's cell phone, and again got no answer. "What's going on? Where is everyone?" she muttered.

Waiting long enough to finish her tea, Sarah got up to leave. She left a large tip for just having two glasses of ice tea. If wasn't the server's fault that Amanda had been stood up and had taken up one of her tables during the peak lunch hour rush.

Sarah decided to drive over to Amanda's office and wait for her there. She had to show up eventually. She really couldn't imagine why Amanda hadn't called or shown up at the restaurant. This wasn't like her at all. She was the epitome of professionalism. Sarah was going to turn the freak out Amanda had the first time she'd spoken with Bobby, look like a calm and reasonable conversation. Pay back was everything people said it was.

Sarah pulled into the underground parking structure of Amanda's office building. It was a smaller building just around the corner from Publisher's Row off Broadway on Central.

Riding up to the 12th floor, Sarah was anxious to see the layout for the book jacket. She hoped Amanda wouldn't keep her waiting much longer.

Stepping out on the 12th floor, Sarah turned to the left and crossed to the door that proclaimed it to be, Cartwright & Associates. Kelly was still the only associate. It was just a small two-person operation, but they offered top-flight representation and had a great reputation in the publishing world.

As she opened the outer door, Sarah caught a whiff of an unpleasant odor. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up. She peered around the door calling out, "Amanda? Kelly?" Not receiving an answer, Sarah slowly entered the office and crossed to the door directly opposite, which was Amanda's private office, the door barely open. She glanced over at the desk that Kelly usually occupied and found it clean and empty.

Knocking lightly, she opened the door. She'd found Amanda and Kelly. Kelly was lying on the floor in a pool of blood and the remains of 2 grande coffees from Starbucks. Amanda was sitting in her chair, blood had run down and completely soaked the front of her shirt and jacket.

Sarah started shaking and backing out of the office. As soon as she'd backed across the threshold, she turned and ran to the office next door, which belonged to a dentist. "Call the police, ohmigod, call the police….call the police…..call the police. They're dead, both dead."


	16. Chapter 16

Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ed Green arrived at 8876 Central to find a crowd of on-lookers held back by crime scene tape and

Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ed Green arrived at 8876 Central to find a crowd of on-lookers held back by crime scene tape and barricades.

Lieutenant Anita Van Buren was waiting in the vestibule for her two detectives. "Up on the 12th floor, we have 2 female victims. There throats were slashed. Amanda Cartwright age 49 and Kelly Bishop age 32."

Surprised to be getting this info from their Lieutenant instead of a uniform officer, Ed was seeing a high profile case in his future.

"Any witnesses? Who found the bodies?" Asked Detective Green.

"No witnesses. Sarah Stevens found the bodies. She is a writer who had been represented by Ms. Cartwright. They were supposed to have had a lunch meeting at Cicero's, and Ms. Cartwright hadn't shown or called. So Ms. Stevens came by to see why. She found out."

"Ooh, that's rough." Lenny Briscoe remarked. "Where is she now?"

"Across the hall, in a dentist's office. She ran there after she discovered the bodies. The receptionist there was the one who called it in."

"How do you want to handle this, Detectives?" Van Buren asked her detectives. Van Buren was only at the scene because there was the possibility of this becoming a high profile case.

"I'll take the scene and the ME's…. Lenny, you take the girl?" Green volunteered.

"Fine, I've always had a thing for the ladies." Lenny agreed and turned toward the dentist's office.

Van Buren watched her two detectives split up. She noticed a uniform officer talking with one of the patients that had come from the dentist's office. She walked over to remind him that he was supposed to be keeping everyone away from the scene.

Lenny walked into the dentist's office and didn't need any hints to who he was looking for. She was holding a cell phone to her ear and was muttering, "Please, please answer your phone Bobby." After a short pause, Lenny could tell she was leaving a message. "Bobby, call me. Please, please Bobby. Call me. It's bad. It's so bad. I really need you."

Looking dazed, she glanced over at the older detective standing in front of her, "He's not answering his phone. He only turns it off, when he's in a meeting. He... he told me he had a meeting today."

"Who's that?" Lenny asked.

"My ah, my boyfriend. You might know him. He's a cop. He's a detective in Major Case His name is Bobby Goren."

"Goren. I know who he is, but I don't know him, if you know what I mean. We can see about getting in touch with him. Are you up to answering a few questions?" A shadow passed over the Detective's face as he said this, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Um… questions? Yeah, sure of course. Whatever I can do to help." He could see she was trying to hold it together. She seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it too.

"How long have you known Ms. Cartwright and Ms. Bishop?"

"I've known both of the since I signed with Amanda almost 4 years ago. She was my agent. Amanda, that is. Kelly was her assistant."

"Do you know any of her other clients? Anyone who might have had a grudge against either of them?"

"No, I don't really know about her other clients. But both Amanda and Kelly were extremely professional and great at the jobs. I can't imagine that anyone would be unhappy with their representation."

What about husbands, boyfriends, were either seeing anyone regularly?

Amanda's been divorced a long time, I guess about 10 years ago. She has a son, Chris. He lives in Chicago. Her ex-husband he… he died about 8 years ago. Kelly's also divorced. Her divorce was just before I signed with the agency, her husband's remarried and moved somewhere to the Pacific Northwest, Seattle or Tacoma, I'm, I'm not really sure. I don't think there were any bad feelings between them. Her parents live here in the city though.

"We'll see that they're notified. When was the last time you saw either of them and what did you talk about?"

"I haven't seen Amanda in about 3 weeks, even longer for Kelly. So, I guess it's possible Kelly was seeing someone, but I doubt Amanda was. I don't think I ever heard her talk about anyone in all the years I've known her. We talked about the book, and … and I'm not sure what else, just stuff. Amanda was planning a vacation; Kelly had just gotten back from one… I suppose its possible Kelly met someone while she was on vacation…."

"Why so long since you've seen them?"

"There's just not a lot of reason to see each other if things are going well, which they have. I've been working on a new book. That's a pretty solitary process. I do have a new book that's about to be released, which is why we had a meeting today. The last time Amanda and I got together was to make a decision about the layout for that book. We were going to approve the final layout for the book jacket and the cover for the paperback as well as the galley proofs for typeset and page layouts before my publisher sends it to the printer."

"Where were you supposed to meet? Were you meeting here?"

"No, this is one of the times Amanda liked to get out and celebrate a little. We were going to have lunch at Cicero's at 12:30. I tried calling about 11:45 to offer to pick her up, but no one answered, so left a message on the machine telling her I'd just meet her there.. I waited at the restaurant for about an hour, and then decided to come over here to give her a bad time about blowing off our lunch. I ... I never could have dreamed anything like this would … could happen."

"Didn't you think it strange that all you got was the answering machine?"

"No, there were plenty of times that both Amanda and Kelly were out of the office at the same time and… and they would turn on the machine. At first, I thought it meant they were both on their way to the restaurant. Then, I just thought something had come up."

"Okay, I guess that's all for now. Let's see about getting in touch with Detective Goren. At the very least, we can get an officer to drive you home." Lenny noticed that even though she appeared to be calmly answering his questions, her hands were shaking and she kept pulling and twirling a handkerchief she held in her hands. She'd also been biting her lips and pressing them together before answering his questions, she definitely looked like someone desperately trying to hold it together.

"Thank you, Detective." Sarah said as she stood and followed Detective Briscoe into the hallway.

Ed Green walked over to the office of Cartwright & Associates to the sights, sounds, and smells of a crime scene. CSU was collecting samples - hair, blood, fiber, dusting for prints, taking pictures, looking for any evidence that would lead to a suspect and hopefully a conviction for a double homicide.

"Detective, looks like their throats were slashed from behind. Left to right. Deep cuts, strong cuts, definitely a man. He was taller than the one on the floor, so probably about six feet tall. Cuts are straight with a slight upward angle. My guess is the one at the desk is your first vic, the other woman came in carrying the coffee before your perp had a chance to leave."

"Or maybe he was waiting for her."

"Could be."

"Any idea on times of death?"

"Liver temps for both are 97̊̊ degrees. I make to be mid-morning, between 9:00 and 10:00. They were killed at approximately the same time. I'll know more after the autopsies. "

"Okay, thanks. Can I ask how long until we get that?"

"Detective, you can ask, but I can't answer. That is not my department. I'll see what I can do for you though."

"Thanks. I have a feeling this is going to become a 'press case'. We're going to need all you get as soon as possible."

Ed turned and headed back to the hallway. He ran into Lieutenant Van Buren and Lenny comparing notes and joined them.

"What does the girl have to say?"

"Pretty much the same as she already told you Lieutenant, just a little more detail. She's shook up though. I think she's barely holding it together. Did you know she's Goren's girlfriend, that 'head case' from Major Case Squad.

"Lenny," admonished Van Buren, she knew where he was going with this, "Detective Goren is not a 'head case' as you put it. I'll see to it that he stays out of the investigation. He's a fellow officer and you will accord him the respect you'd give any detective."

"These were people connected to his girlfriend. You don't think he's going to try and work this case? I know if it were me, you'd be hard pressed to keep me out of it."

"Don't you worry about that Detective. You see to it that you work this case quickly, and I'll see to it that Goren doesn't interfere in the investigation."


	17. Chapter 17

Bobby and Alex were very discouraged

Bobby and Alex were very discouraged. Both ADA Carver and Captain Deakins were equally disappointed with the lack of progress the two detectives were able to demonstrate to them.

"Detectives, you may 'know it in your bones' that Rivers committed the murder, but I need evidence that's going to hold up in court and witnesses who will testify to what they saw. This is basic stuff. I shouldn't have to tell you this." ADA Carver was about at the end of his patience with Goren.

"You're right, you don't need to be telling us this Mr. Carver. This isn't our first case. We're looking. He's covered his bases well. We need more time. And we need to be out there looking, not in here being told how to do our job." Bobby was about as fed up with ADA Carver.

"Detective." Captain Deakins warned. This was degenerating into a mess. "I think we all need to take a break."

"Let's just take a week to give you the time you need Detective Goren. I have other things I need to do this afternoon. Get me the evidence I need before it's too late." Carver picked up his briefcase and walked out of Deakin's office, almost, but not quite slamming the door.

"Bobby…." Deakins started.

"What…. What?" Bobby was about to blow.

Throwing up a hand to stop Goren, Deakins said simply, "Go, solve this case, for all our sakes. Just go and solve this case."

Alex and Bobby got up to leave the Captain's office, as his phone rang. Once the door closed behind them, Alex ventured, "Bobby…."

"Don't say it Eames, I know… I know."

Raising her hands in surrender, she muttered, "Okay." Turning to walk away to get a cup of coffee, she walked away leaving Bobby standing there, bouncing his notebook off the side of his thigh.

Thinking to himself that it was looking like a good time to take some personal days, he walked over to his desk, and threw his notebook down and dropped into his chair. After sitting there for a few seconds, he began to look through the messages on his desk that had piled up in the 2 hours they'd been going at it, in the Captain's office. Nothing looked urgent. A few calls from people he knew, looking to 'give' him information. A Lieutenant Van Buren from the 27th precinct had called asking him to call in regards to Amanda Cartwright.

Deakin's opened his office door and walked over to Goren's desk. "Bobby, Lieutenant Van Buren from the 2-7 just called me. Sarah's at the scene of a double homicide - her agent and assistant. You should get down there now."

Bobby turned his cell phone back on and saw that he had 4 new messages, all from Sarah. He didn't check the messages, he just speed dialed her number.

Sarah's cell phone ringing startled her and she fumbled around trying to find it. "Oh, thank God Bobby. Bobby…. "Sarah had to pause and try to collect herself. In a small quiet voice she said, "Amanda and Kelly are dead, in the office. You've…. You've got to come down here. Now. Please Bobby."

"I just heard, and I'm on my way. Sarah are you all right? Are you hurt? Who's there with you?"

"No, no, I'm not hurt. But I'm not all right either. Everyone's here. Everyone's here but you. Please Bobby, get me out of here."

"Is Lieutenant Van Buren around? If not her, let me talk to someone in charge."

"Okay, hold on just a minute." Sarah stood and looked around for the Lieutenant. She seemed to be coordinating everything. "Lieutenant Van Buren, it's my friend Detective Goren."

"Detective, this is Lieutenant Van Buren."

"Um, you called me earlier; I take it, that this is what it was about. What can you tell me?"

"Yes it was, well," Anita turned and walked a few steps away from Sarah. "Look Detective, you should get down here as soon as you can. It's bad. We have two vics - Amanda Cartwright and Kelly Bishop. Unknown assailant. Both women's throats were slashed. Your friend Sarah found the bodies. It hasn't really hit her yet, Detective. What's happened here, what she's seen. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

After a short pause, while Bobby tried to collect his thoughts, he answered, "Yes Lieutenant, I understand. I'm on my way now. Can I speak with Sarah again?"

"Sure, hold on a minute." Anita turned to see that Ed Green had distracted the young woman while she'd talked with Goren. "Miss Stevens, he'd like to speak with you again."

Taking the phone from Van Buren, Sarah spoke into the phone, "Yes, Bobby?"

"Sarah, I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm on my way out the door right now." He really was. He stood up and put on his jacket.

"Okay. Please hurry Bobby."

"I will. I am."

The movement caught Alex's eye and she headed over. "What's up, Bobby?"

Heading to the door, Bobby spun around and responded, "Sarah's agent and her assistant are dead. Sarah found them at their office. I'm on my way there, now."

"I'll drive." Alex said as she grabbed her jacket and followed Bobby to the elevator.

"Thanks Alex."


	18. Chapter 18

The ride, while not far, seemed too take forever and was very tense

The ride, while not far, seemed too take forever and was very tense. Alex could feel anxiety rolling off Bobby. The scene hadn't changed much since Green and Briscoe had first pulled up. The usual assortment of Police vehicles, patrol and unmarked cars, patrol officers, coroner's assistants and the curious milling around the barricades and crime scene tape were all still there. No crime scene was identical, but they all shared certain hallmarks.

Bobby and Alex showed their badges and were allowed to enter the building. Once inside they took the service elevator up to the 12th floor. CSU was processing both passenger elevators for any trace evidence that might relate to the killings upstairs. The service elevator had been processed earlier. As the two detectives rounded a corner they too were greeted by the familiar sights and sounds typical of the first few hours of an investigation. Bobby scanned the scene looking for Sarah. He saw Lieutenant Van Buren. He recognized her from previous investigations. Bobby found Sarah, leaning against the wall, looking lost, very alone and very small. His heart ached to see her looking so fragile.

Eames had seen Sarah too, and noticed the tension rolling off Bobby as he saw her. The preoccupied and concerned look was replaced by a cold anger. "I'll go talk to the detectives, you go see to Sarah."

"Thanks Alex." Bobby said as he started down the hall. Sarah must have sensed something because she looked up in his direction. He could see in her eyes the struggle she had to keep from falling apart. As they reached each other, Bobby pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair. She held on tight and buried her head in his chest as she choked back sobs. A uniformed officer opened a door across from where they stood. Bobby nodded his thanks and led Sarah into the waiting room of a dentist's office. They sat for several minutes, holding each other with only the sound of Sarah's crying breaking the silence.

Sarah sniffled and wiped at her tears, "I'm glad you got here when you did Bobby. I'm not sure how much longer I could have held it together."

"You're doing fine, Sarah. I got here as soon as I could. I'm so sorry about Amanda and Kelly. So sorry that it was you that found them. We will find out who did this, and they will have justice."

"I can't believe this is happening, Why would…. How could anyone… oh God, I don't understand."

"Shhh, shh, Sarah, you don't want to go inside this person's mind. You don't want to go there." Bobby held her again, for several more minutes, waiting for her to get herself under control again. "Let's see, about getting you out of here. Call Angie and tell her we're on our way over."

"Why, why can't we just go to your place or my place? Can't you stay?" Sarah asked fearfully.

"I won't be away long, but I want to see how things are going here. I'll drop you off at Angie's and then come back and get up to speed on this. Even though I can't officially be involved in the investigation, maybe I can help, unofficially."

"But…"

"No, no buts. Call Angie and let her know we're on the way over." Bobby got up to leave the dentist's office. "I'm going to go tell the detectives where you'll be in case they have anymore questions for you today. "Give me your keys, I'll drive you over to Angie's."

"Okay…." Sarah sighed and began rummaging through her bag to retrieve her cell phone and her car keys.

Just outside the door, Bobby saw Lt. Van Buren and Eames talking with two detectives her recognized from other cases.

Alex made introductions "Bobby I'm sure you remember Detectives Briscoe and Green. Detectives, my partner, Bobby Goren." Nods all around as movement from the doorway of Cartwright & Associates caught everyone's attention. The ME's office was removing the bodies of Cartwright and Associate. Bobby flicked his gaze towards the office Sarah was sitting in to make sure that the door hadn't opened. He moved over to block the view from the door, just in case Sarah opened the door while this was going on. First one gurney and then the other came out of the office and rolled down the hall toward the service elevator. Bobby rubbed a hand across his face and a sigh escaped from him.

Lenny Briscoe broke the silence. "How well did you know the two women, Detective?"

"Uh…. Uh," Bobby mentally pulled himself up as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Not well, I only met the both of them a handful of times. Went to dinner a time or two with Amanda, but Kelly I mostly only spoke with her on the phone when she'd call to speak with Sarah. That kind of thing. Very casual. But Sarah had a friendly relationship with both, not just a business arrangement. Although, I'm not sure how much time they'd spent together or spoke recently."

"Not much at all, according to Ms Stevens. Why was that? Did they have a falling out of some kind?" This question came from Detective Green.

Bobby recognized the tone of that question and realized where the detective was trying to lead him. "Well, I guess I had a lot to do with that. Sarah and I started seeing each other about a year ago and some of our other relationships suffered along the way."

"So you'd really have no idea what could have motivated these killings?

"Uh, no. I really wouldn't. How were they killed?" Even though he'd been told that their throats were slashed, Bobby didn't have a clue to what had happened here.

'Here it is', thought Green. He's going to make his move on our case. Green decided to throw down with the detective from Major Case. "Both vics had their throats slashed." Green purposely used the term 'vics' instead of their names to see what reaction he'd get from Goren. It looks like there were no other injuries, very little signs of a struggle. The office wasn't tossed, doesn't even look as if anyone was looking for anything. Straight up murder."

Goren's head snapped up at the use of the word 'vics'. That was something you didn't do with someone who was acquainted with the victims. You gave them respect and called them by name. "Well, Detective. It may prove to be straight up murder, but it was personal. The perp had a very personal reason for killing Amanda and Kelly by slashing their throats." Bobby caught the other Detective's gaze and held it.

Lenny was surprised that Ed was going to set such a confrontational tone with Goren. The man hadn't done or said anything. "So we're looking for someone who knew both of them? Another client or wannabe client?" Asked Lenny, in spite of himself he was curious as to how Goren came up with this.

"No, that's not what I said. It was personal for him. Amanda and Kelly might not know who he was; they may not even have seen him today."

That silenced everyone for a minute as Bobby continued to lock eyes with Green. Alex tried to figure out where Bobby was coming from with this statement, but that was often the case when Bobby jumped from 'A' to 'D', while skipping 'B' and 'C' she would get lost. She could see his comment hadn't made much of an impression with the other officers either.

"What I mean is that killing with a knife is a very personal way to kill someone. The perp has all the power, he invades your space, and you're at his mercy. He is in total control." Bobby spun on his heel and grabbed Green as a killer with a knife would. "See what I mean, Detective Green." Bobby released the detective and stepped away. Things got very intense.

Green was furious. Alex could see him calculating the number of punches he could land before being restrained. Still not taking his eyes off Green, Bobby addressed Lt. Van Buren. "Lieutenant, I'd like to take Sarah over to a friend's if you've finished questioning her for now. I'd also like to come back and look at the scene."

Now was the time for Van Buren to set the boundaries. "Detective, this case belongs to my guys. It has nothing to do with Major Case, and I won't stand for any interference with their investigation in any way."

Bobby threw his hands up in a placating gesture. "That's not my intent Lieutenant. I'd just like to be able to answer any questions Sarah might have as truthfully as possible."

"Detective Goren, I think I speak for both my partner and myself when I say that I think we'd both be more comfortable if you didn't discuss the case with Ms. Stevens at all. Which means we'd also be more comfortable with you not having access to information regarding the investigation." Green pushed back a little bit harder, but still didn't break eye contact with Goren.

Taken completely aback, Bobby asked, "What? What are you saying? Bobby rocked back and took a half step forward. Looking at the office where he'd left Sarah on the phone. "You…. You're way off base Detective."

"I guess we'll see what turns up, won't we Bobby." Green said, not retreating an inch.

"I guess we will, Eddie." Goren took another half step forward. Green wasn't backing down. He continued to hold his ground. He wasn't exactly sure why he had provoked the man or why he had taken such an instant dislike to the detective, but he had to see it through now.

Van Buren and Alex glanced at each other and decided now was the time to act.

"Bobby…"

"Detective Goren, I think it's a good idea for you to take Ms Stevens over to her friend you mentioned. You might consider staying and comforting her. Ed, Lenny you should go out to the Bishops, notify them about their daughter, and find out if they know why this might have happened to her.

"Come on Bobby. I'll drive you and Sarah over to Angie's. The stare down between Goren and Green was still underway.

"Come on Ed, let's go. Even Lenny thought it was about to go too far. Lenny tapped Ed on the shoulder. After another few seconds, Ed broke eye contact with Goren. "Right, I'm with you Lenny. Let's go."

Goren watched the two detectives walk away. Then he turned to Eames and Van Buren. Bobby was rocking back and forth trying to dispel some of the pent up adrenaline that continued to race through him during the confrontation with Green. He continued casting looks between the two remaining detectives, shaking his head. "Unbelievable…unbelievable." Bobby muttered.

"Look Detective, take Ms Stevens to her friend's. We have her cell phone number and I'm sure we can always contact her through you. If they should need any further information, I'll let you know. My detectives are very good at their jobs. They are professional and …."

"Professional? Is that what you call what Green just tried to do?" Bobby was practically shouting.

"… and will follow any and all leads, down whatever avenue they find." Van Buren continued.

"But they're not going to be looking in the right place, with the right attitude." Bobby continued to interrupt.

"And I am going to chalk up what transpired here the last few minutes to the stress of discovering that people you have a personal relationship with have been killed."

Bobby looked as if he was about to take on the Lieutenant, so Alex grabbed him by the arm and muscled him around. "You need to be thinking about Sarah right now. Let's get over her over to Angie's."

Sarah was just emerging from the office as Alex turned Bobby toward it. She looked as if she'd been crying again. She walked over to Bobby, grabbed his hand, and let out a shuddering sigh.

"Hello Alex." she said with another sigh.

Alex walked over and gave Sarah a hug around her shoulders. "Sarah, I'm so sorry. We'll figure this out Sarah. We will." The same empty words Bobby used.

Sarah nodded as Bobby led her down the hall, leaving Alex to follow behind them. She paused long enough for them to get out of earshot. She looked over at Lieutenant Van Buren. "They're wrong about Sarah being involved. She's not capable of this, in any connection. I know her and so does Goren."

"I hope you're right."

Alex walked off to join Bobby and Sarah.

"I hope you're right."


	19. Chapter 19

The drive to Angie and David Thompson's apartment was silent

The drive to Angie and David Thompson's apartment was silent. Alex felt her role was merely chauffeur duty. She allowed Bobby and Sarah as much privacy as she could in the SUV. She overheard scattered fragments of conversation. Apparently, Angie had told Sarah to hurry over and stay as long as she needed. She looked up at the rearview mirror before changing lanes, but what she saw was concern and fear in Bobby's eyes. Since becoming partners with Goren, she'd become well acquainted with the awkwardness Bobby often found himself in during social interactions. There was often a detached and distracted element to his behavior which was off putting to those who didn't know him. But this had all started to change after he met Sarah. Alex still had very little idea about what Bobby's personal life was like. But she had noticed changes, small changes since he met Sarah. With Sarah, even Bobby seemed to have found a measure of peace…they both had, until now.

As she pulled up to the apartment building the Thompson's lived in Alex noticed there wasn't any parking available close to the building.. Not unusual in Mid-town. She noticed a red zone not too far from the building and pulled into it. She reached into the side door pocket where she kept a NYPD Official Business placard and tossed it onto the dashboard on the passenger's side. That should keep Parking Enforcement from issuing her a citation.

As they entered the building they were greeted by a doorman sitting at a reception desk just inside the building. He greeted both Sarah and Bobby by name and reserved a nod for Alex.

"Well, it looks like Mr. Thompson got home just in time. He went up about fifteen minutes ago."

"Hello George." Sarah turned to look at Bobby, "Angie must have called him. He didn't have to rush home, that wasn't necessary."

"Look Sarah, he cares about you I'm sure is concerned about you too, and I'm sure he just wanted to be here in case you need him for anything." Bobby explained.

They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor in silence. Once there, Alex got off the elevator first and started down the hall. She and Andy had been here a couple of times for dinner and she was familiar with where the Thompson's apartment was. Bobby and Sarah followed as Alex continued down the hall; suddenly she put out a restraining hand and reached for her gun.

Bobby looked up to see if he could see what had alerted Alex. A briefcase was lying outside the partially open door of the Thompson's apartment. Bobby turned towards Sarah and placed both of his hands firmly on her shoulders. Looking at her in the eyes he said, "Stay here. Do not come inside." Sarah nodded, her eyes rounding in surprise and shock.

Bobby drew his gun and advanced to the apartment. Knocking, he called out, "Knock, knock, knock…. David? Angie?" Receiving no answer, Bobby looked over at Alex who nodded once. Slowly he pushed the door open. Nothing looked out of place; nothing seemed unusual, except that neither Angie nor David had answered his call.

Advancing into the apartment, Bobby and Alex quickly surveyed the living and dining room areas. Bobby motioned towards the kitchen. As they rounded a corner in the diningroom, they could see into the kitchen. Extending beyond the edge of a kitchen cabinet Bobby could see the bottom of a man's shoe. He looked over at Alex who was watching him. He motioned for her to stay where she was as he eased into the kitchen. It was a small room with no hiding places. Lying on the floor was David Thompson. Blood had soaked his chest and sprayed across the room. There was a gaping wound where his throat had been.

Bobby paused as he looked at the body of someone who'd become a good friend in the last year. He was angry but now was not the time to indulge it. They needed to find Angie and the baby. He didn't need to tell Alex what he'd found, she'd been a cop a long time. Bobby rejoined Alex and whispered, "The bedrooms are down the hall on the left. First, Sean's and then master bedroom. Alex started down before Bobby could stop her. She reached the door of the baby's room and stopped. She knew what she was going find and she didn't want to see it. But what she saw was even worse than she imagined. Peering into the room Alex could see Angie slumped over, half into the crib. Angie had been attacked from behind and killed while trying to reach her child. Blood had already soaked through the thin baby mattress and was pooling at her feet. Bobby joined her in the room. Advancing to the crib, Bobby swore he'd get the bastard who'd done this. Looking into the crib Bobby saw the small body of Sean. He reached out to touch the boy. He was blue and his body had already begun to cool. But the perp hadn't been able to slit the boy's throat. It looked like a small pillow had smothered the boy. Probably after Angie had been killed. There was still one room to check, which they did quickly now. They knew no one was hiding in there. Alex was on her phone to dispatch. She also called Captain Deakins, and Lieutenant Van Buren. While Sarah wasn't the killer, she was definitely involved.

Bobby raced out into the hall, only to find it empty. Sarah was gone.

A sharp stabbing pain in Sarah's back helped contribute to her waking up. She tried getting her thoughts straight. She tried to sit up but couldn't move. She was on her side and there was no room for her to turn over. Her head throbbed. Her eyes were covered and her wrists and ankles tied together. She realized she was in a car trunk. Why? Why would anyone take her? In a blinding flash of insight, she knew what it was all about. Amanda and Kelly were dead. She felt that Angie, David, and Sean were also be dead. But who would do this? Why would anyone do this? Where was she being taken? Where's Bobby. Oh God, Bobby. Please let Bobby and Alex be safe.

She realized the cause of her stabbing pain was a part of a car jack. An idea of who might be doing this began to form in her mind, but she didn't even want to think about what it might mean if she was right.


	20. Chapter 20

When Bobby raced out into the hall, with Alex following only a step behind him

When Bobby raced out into the hall, with Alex following only a step behind him. As he raced down the stairs to the lobby, Eames called Captain Deakins and Lieutenant Van Buren back to tell them about Sarah's disappearance. Both senior officers were on their way to the apartment. As were Detectives Briscoe and Green.

The concierge in the lobby hadn't seen anyone come downstairs, but told Goren they could have gone straight to the underground parking garage. Goren ran out the doors, down the stairs and saw a green Pontiac Grand Am racing down the street. He wasn't close enough to get the plate number but he could see that it had Connecticut plates. Bobby slammed his fist repeatedly into the hood of the car next to him. His frustration and anger so frightening that none of the passersby on the street stopped. Their only acknowledgement was to step back and try to avoid the man. He turned and walked back up the block to the Thompson's apartment building.

Alex sat and watched Bobby. He'd slumped down along the hall wall to wait for Deakins and Van Buren to show up. She knew that if Bobby had any idea of where to start looking for Sarah, he'd be gone, but she could see his mind racing. Picking and discarding theories and suspects in seconds.

Captain Deakins and several of the CSU techs arrived and stepped off the elevator in the same car. Eames stepped forward to report what they'd discovered inside the apartment and the disappearance of Sarah Stevens.

When Van Buren and her two detectives arrived, Bobby stepped up to join the conversation just as Green was saying, "I guess that lets her off the hook for these killings." Bobby once again looked like he was ready to lay the detective out.

"I know who's behind this. His name is Michael DeVry. He's from Connecticut and he used to date Sarah in college. He was extremely controlling and possessive. I think he's held on to that for the last six years. And now he's come back to make her pay for it. By taking away all the people she's cared about, by isolating her."

Briscoe and Green rolled their eyes, as Van Buren told her detectives to find out what they could about Michael DeVry immediately.

Deakins asked what else Goren knew about DeVry.

"That's it. Sarah never wanted to talk about him or what happened while they were together."

It didn't take Briscoe long to return with some interesting information. Michael DeVry had spent the last 5 years in a Connecticut State Prison for armed robbery and assault. He'd been released six weeks ago.

"That would explain why it's taken him six years to come after her." Deakins looked at Bobby. "Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell us?"

"Sarah was always talking about how we should go up to her parent's cabin. It's up near Mt. Kisco. It's off a dirt road, pretty isolated from what I understand. Other than that I don't know where else. I don't know that DeVry knows about it, but it's a possibility. The only one I can think of." Bobby was headed to the elevator.

"So that's where you're going? Mt Kisco?" Deakins called after him.

"Until someone gives me a better idea." Deakins, Van Buren, Green. Briscoe and Eames watched the tall Goren stride toward the elevator.

"Wait for me Bobby." Alex again was playing catch up with Goren.

"I'll try to find you an exact address and directions to that cabin. I'll call you as soon as I find out anything."

"You two, follow them. If he's right about where DeVry is taking her, they're going to need help. Make sure you take some extra vests and ammo. This could turn out to be a SWAT situation." Van Buren nodded to Briscoe and Green.

"We don't know that it's this DeVry. And we really don't know if whoever did this is heading up to Mt. Kisco. I think we should stay here and pursue our case down here." Greene said.

Deakins looked from Greene to Lt. Van Buren. If she wasn't going to say anything he was going to. But he was going to give her first shot.

"Ed. We can't do anything for the two vics at the other scene, but now we've got a hostage situation to handle and I need you and Lenny to backup Goren and Eames. If you have a problem with that Detective, you need to let me know right now."

"Come on Ed. Let's go." Lenny tried to give Ed a way out.

"No, no problem L-T. It's cool. Come on Lenny, we're on our way to Mt.Kisco."

As they walked away, Deakins turned to Van Buren. "Must be a bit of work to handle that one."

"Probably no more work than it takes to for you to handle Goren."

"Then you sincerely have my sympathies, Anita."

"Right back at you Jimmy."

Alex sped onto the I-95 and headed north. She figured it would take them about an hour and a half to get to Mt. Kisco. Hopefully the Captain would be able to get them a more detailed destination than merely Mt. Kisco.

"He's not going to hurt her. Not yet. He needs to take me out of the picture. He knows I'll come after Sarah. And this is all about taking out everyone that she cares about. Taking Sarah would ensure that he'd be able to draw me out. It was enough to have Sarah find the others, but this time he wants Sarah to witness it."

Alex looked over at Bobby. He wasn't really talking to her, he was trying to figure it all out. She didn't say anything, but thought he might just be right.


	21. Chapter 21

Sarah had been trying to kick the sides of the car, make any kind of noise she could hoping that someone would notice somethin

Sarah had been trying to kick the sides of the car, make any kind of noise she could hoping that someone would notice something wrong with the car. The road noise changed and she could hear gravel bouncing off the under carriage of the car. About five minutes later the car turned and stopped. She heard a car door open and the crunch of gravel underfoot. A key was inserted into the lock of the trunk. The trunk lid popped open.

She was still blindfolded, but she recognized the voice that said, "Hello Sarah. I've waited almost six years for this. Today I make you pay for all the pain you've put me through." She'd been right. It really was Michael. Michael DeVry.

Deakins had called and Bobby was writing down directions. Just after they passed Highway marker N138 and before they got into the Mt. Kisco city limits, they were to turn left onto Ketchum Valley Road. The road ended right in front of the house they were looking for. Deakins had alerted the State Police who was sending a hostage negotiator and the Mt. Kisco police department who were more than happy to let NYPD handle this situation. The small police force of Mt. Kisco hadn't ever dealt with a hostage situation but was still going to have a car waiting for them at the entrance to Ketchum Valley Road to provide back up. He also told Bobby that Briscoe and Green were about 15 minutes behind them.

Bobby relayed all the same info to Alex. "We just passed Highway marker N127. It will only be a few more minutes. Do you have any kind of plan? Or are we going to just walk right in?"

"We are not going to just walk right in. But I am. I'm the one he's after. And I can draw him outside. This is what he's waiting for. When I do, you take him down, because he's not going to go peacefully or willingly."

"You can't do this Bobby, I won't let you. And I don't think the Mt Kisco PD will either."

"It's the only way Alex. Waiting for the state police's negotiator is just going to be a waste of time. He can't be negotiated out of this. He knows he's not getting out of it, he doesn't want to get out of it I can draw him out, because that's what he wants. He's going to think I'm playing his game. I've got my own plan, though."

Alex pulled over as she came up behind the Mt. Kisco police cruiser. The two detectives got out of their SUV as the two Mt. Kisco officers stepped out of their car. Introductions all around and Alex told the officers they were waiting for two other detectives from New York. They already knew the State Police was on its way.

Within minutes Detectives Briscoe and Green pulled up behind the SUV and walked up to the little group. Bobby asked, "So who's got the best shooting range scores?"

Bobby outlined the plan he had worked out so far. Much of it depended on what DeVry did. Bobby's entire plan depended on DeVry coming outside. It was his job to see to it that he did.

The two Mt. Kisco officers made their way around to the back of the property to keep DeVry from being able to sneak out of the back of the house should it not play out the way Bobby thought it was going to. Eames, Briscoe and Green worked their way into positions with clear sight lines to the front door. Bobby gave everyone a five-minute lead to get into position before getting into the SUV and turning into the driveway and pulling up behind the Grand Am. He wasn't sure why he was so relieved to see it was the same green Grand Am, it confirmed he'd figured it right. This was Michael DeVry. Things looked very normal around the cabin. He hoped it meant that Sarah was still alive.

He opened the door and slowly took off his suit jacket and set it down on the hood of the car. He removed his gun and holster and put them on top of his jacket. He pulled out his shirt tails and unbuttoned his shirt allowing DeVry to see that he wore no vest, just a white t-shirt under his dress shirt.

"DeVry. Come on out. Michael, it's Bobby Goren."

From inside the house a voice called out. "I don't think so Detective Goren. The woods around here are probably full of sharpshooters. I'm not a fool Goren. I've had six years to think this through.'

"I don't think you're a fool, DeVry. But no one else is here. No one else believed my theory. They still think Sarah had something to do with the murders, especially those of Amanda Cartwright and Kelly Bishop. You set those killings up very well."

"Well, I did try. It wasn't really very difficult. Most cops see what they want to see anyway. They're the fools. They're so easily led if you know what you want them to find. That's were so many mess up. Too busy about not trying to implicate themselves, they fail to see the opportunity to lead the cops a different direction."

"Well that's one thing we can agree on. They saw what you wanted them to see. But I know Sarah and I'm not so easily swayed this time. Let Sarah go. You and I both know, you don't intend to hurt her. It's much more rewarding for you to crush her spirit. To break her, like you almost did six years ago."

"Smart man, you think you've figured out my intentions? I'm capable of things far greater than you can imagine. How far I'm willing to take this stand off to make her pay for her deceit. She uses people. She a user, she just uses people up. She'll suck your spirits dry and then cast you aside as soon as she finds her next victim. You should be thanking me for saving you from that. 'Breaking her' as you call it, is definitely part of the plan."

"If you won't come outside, at least open the door. So we won't have to yell so much. A few years ago there was a theory about 'psychic vampires' and how they just used people. It sounds a lot like what you're talking about."

"Psychic Vampire… I like that. But I must have missed out on that theory while I was working for the state the last five years. Everyone has a theory, everyone has an explanation."

DeVry hadn't spoken to Sarah since they arrived at the house. He hadn't wanted to listen to her either, so except for uncovering her eyes and sitting her in a chair by the front door, she was as bound up as she'd been in the car. Now he cut the duct tape holding her ankles together so that she could walk. He pulled her up and towards the door as he spoke into her ear, "Now the fun begins."

"Okay, Goren, you win. We'll come out and play." Standing to the side of the door, he swung the door open wide enough to allow the setting sun to shine in. Just what he wanted. To be in the spotlight. He tightened his grip on Sarah, wrapped one arm around her neck and held the sig sauer semi automatic to her temple.

He pushed her two, then three, and then finally four steps out the door. In the driveway immediately in front of her, she saw Bobby. He was unarmed and didn't have a vest on and it looked like he had no back up either. She shook her head no, hoping he understood, 'don't do this.'

"It's going to be all right Sarah, don't worry, it's all going to work out."

DeVry pointed his chin to signify the woods, "So, how many friends do you have out there?"

"I told you, no one believed me. I'm here on my own."

DeVry smiled and scoffed, "Like I believe you. It doesn't matter though. It really doesn't. They're not going to factor into the outcome anyway."

"Just like I said, it's just you and me." Bobby said as he took several small and slow steps forward.

"Oh, ho, ho …. That's far enough Detective. I mean between you and me, between me and Sarah. Sarah's the most important part of this. You were right about that. This has all been for her benefit. First, it was Amanda and Kelley – that should effectively end her career. Then, the Thompson family, - Angela, David, and little baby Sean – that takes care of her friends. Now, you – that should put a crimp on her love life for a while. But Sarah, Sarah gets left behind to deal with the aftermath. To leave Sarah behind to try to pick up all the pieces of her sad and pathetic life will be my crowning glory. But she won't be able to, she's going to be left the most broken piece of all. I have you out here, weaponless, defenseless and utterly at my mercy. Just as I've dreamed of having you since I found out about you."

"Well, I don't feel so very defenseless." He took another few small steps forward.

"Un, un, un, I won't warn you again Goren. Stay where you are. This is going to play out according to my time table, not yours." DeVry pressed the muzzle of the gun forcefully into Sarah's temple and Bobby stopped.

"That doesn't intimidate me, DeVry. You're not going to hurt Sarah, which would ruin your plans."

"Might not intimidate you, but it got you to stop." With a wry grin, Bobby conceded the point.

Now talking to Sarah, instead of DeVry, Bobby laid everything out for her, "You see Sarah, his plan was to take away everyone who was important to you. To leave you alone, alone and defeated. The same way he's felt since he lost his control over you, his power over you. He's taken everyone, except for…"

"Except for you, Detective. But now it's your turn." DeVry loosened his grip on Sarah just a little as he started to swing the gun forward to face Goren. Bobby dove for the cover of a large bush as DeVry pulled the trigger and fired the gun twice in his direction. The recoil of the gun was enough to cause him to loose much of his grip on Sarah as she continued to struggle to get away from DeVry. She needed to reach Bobby. Sarah was blocking a clear shot from Eames, Briscoe or Green. As Sarah finally broke free, DeVry turned the gun back on himself. Sarah rushed toward Bobby, and heard him shout, "Stop him! Don't let him do it!" The instant Sarah heard Bobby's voice she stopped and turned to look back at the porch.

Michael had the muzzle of the gun in his mouth. He smiled at Sarah as he pulled the trigger. She screamed as the gun when off and blood exploded like a halo from the back of DeVry's head.

Tears were streaming down Sarah's face as she stumbled to where Bobby was struggling to sit up. It hadn't registered what it meant that she'd heard Bobby cry out to the other officers. Bobby was just starting to sit up when Sarah collapsed on her knees in front of him. She couldn't believe her eyes, Bobby didn't look like he was hurt. She couldn't see any blood on him. She heard others rushing up to them. Turning she saw officers in uniform and Alex and the detectives she'd met earlier today. Could it really have been just a few hours ago? The Mt. Kisco officers had already radioed for ambulances; Briscoe and Green secured DeVry's gun and made sure he was dead. Eames ran toward his partner, but stopped as she saw that he was well enough to be taking the gag that was still on Sarah's mouth and freeing her hands, rubbing them to get the circulation going again.

As soon as he had untied her hands, she threw her arms around his neck. With tears streaming down her face, she cried, "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" She was running her hands all over his chest, her eyes raking his body looking for blood. "Did he miss you? How could he have?"

"I'm fine. I'm not hurt, but he didn't miss me." Bobby pulled up the white t-shirt so that Sarah could see that underneath it was a thinner than normal, but still substantial bulletproof vest. They sat there, Bobby trying to calm her down, until the ambulances arrived. The paramedics first went over to check DeVry, but there was nothing they could do for him, it was clear that he was dead. They walked over to see if they needed medical care. Sarah had several scraps and bruises coming up. When she told them the DeVry had hit her on the head and that she had been unconscious for a time, one of them began to check her over for signs of concussion.

The other paramedic wanted to get a look at Bobby and see what kind of injury he'd sustained from the gunshots. He helped Goren to get the vest off, first by helping him get his dress shirt off and pulling the t-shirt up over his head and then unfastening the vest. When he did, it was obvious where the two bullets DeVry had fired had hit Bobby. One was dead center in the chest, the other on the left side of the ribcage. If Bobby hadn't been wearing the vest, either shot could have killed him. The welts left on his body were already bruising up and the paramedic wanted to get some x-rays to rule out any broken or cracked ribs. Bobby put his shirt back on and carefully and slowly got to his feet. He was a little light-headed, but he felt pretty good considering he'd been shot twice.

Bobby and Sarah climbed into the back of one of the ambulances as the body of Michael DeVry was put into the other.


	22. Chapter 22

A week of light duty for Bobby and he was ready to resume his regular work and caseload, which couldn't have made Alex happier

A week of light duty for Bobby and he was ready to resume his regular work and caseload, which couldn't have made Alex happier. She'd been teamed up with Mike Logan for that week, and after working with Bobby, it seemed like a step down. Even though, Logan was a very good detective, he wasn't a Robert Goren.

Sarah had retreated into a very dark place. She was nervous and uneasy when she was alone. She had trouble sleeping. After two weeks of very little sleep, very little food she agreed to start seeing a psychologist and talking through some of the thoughts she was having, the guilt she was experiencing. The grieving process hadn't even begun yet. Bobby didn't know how to help her.

After two months, things weren't any better for Sarah. She was on the edge all the time. She was barely eating or sleeping. Bobby's solicitousness and concern was only becoming an aggravation to her. She began to blame him for everything she was feeling.

"I know it's not true. I know it's not fair or rational, but it's how I feel. I feel like I'm suffocating here. I can't breathe. I can't think. I can't forget. I see it all, everyday. Everyone, Amanda and Kelly. Angie, David and Sean. You. And I know it's really all my fault."

"Sarah, the only person to blame for any of this is Michael DeVry." As Bobby mentioned DeVry's name, Sarah cringed and seemed to shrink in on herself. He'd hold her until her tears stopped and she'd finally slip off into a troubled sleep.

Things weren't getting better. They were getting worse.

One of the last deals Cartwright & Associates had worked on for Sarah was to sell an option for her second novel. Amanda was primarily a literary agent, but Kelly had encouraged her to work at developing the film markets. It again looked as if the two had made a great team. Monogram Pictures had decided to 'green light' a screenplay for her book, and they wanted Sarah to write the screenplay. Unable to contact Sarah directly or through Cartwright & Associates, which was no more, they'd contacted her publisher at Hyperian, Daniel Brendan.

Daniel had called and left a message for Sarah. Three days later, neither Daniel nor Amber Pearson, from script development at Monogram Pictures had heard from her. Daniel decided to stop by her apartment on his way home. Sarah wasn't home but Bobby was there waiting for Sarah too. Daniel told him about the deal with Monogram and urged him to get Sarah to accept the offer and call him so that he could call Amber Pearson in Los Angeles, before the studio moved onto to another story, and another writer. They wanted the story, but they weren't going to wait around forever.

When Sarah eventually returned from her walk - she taken to walking for hours in the afternoon, Bobby was in the kitchen slicing up vegetables for a salad. After asking how her day had been and being told that it was the same as every other day, he waited for her to ask him about his day, a question which never came, any more. He walked over and poured Sarah a glass of white wine.

"Thanks." As their fingers touched, she looked up at him and smiled. It pained him to see the smile didn't reach her eyes, like it used to.

Bobby decided to lay out what he'd learned from Daniel earlier. "Daniel Brendan stopped by and asked why you hadn't called him back? He needs to know what you've decided to do about the deal with Monogram Pictures. Monogram Pictures also needs to know what you were going to do. He's afraid they aren't going to wait much longer for a decision. He told me about it, and it sounds like a great opportunity. Are you blowing it off?"

"I just don't feel up to it right now. They'll find someone. There are plenty of screenplay writers out in Los Angeles. I've never done one."

"I think you should try. Expand your horizons a little."

"Expand my horizons a little. Yeah, well, I'm trying Bobby to expand my horizons. I really am. Besides, they'd want me to go to Los Angeles and write it out there. I'd be gone for months."

"Well, change could be just what you need. A couple of months in Los Angeles. A change of scenery, and then back to New York. Ready to dive in again."

"Ready to dive into what, again?"

"Your life. Our life."

Sarah closed her eyes and stood there nodding her head. "I really am trying Bobby. I am." Sarah stared into her wine glass and sighed as she said, "So you think I should do this? For us? That it would be better for us to spend several months apart. You think this would be good for us. Or will it just make things easier for you?"

"I don't think that it's going to be easy, but yes, I think it would be good for you. It would give you time away to get perspective on everything that's happened in the last year, especially the last six months. If it's good for you, it'll be good for us."

"I don't know how to make 'us' work anymore. So, maybe you're right. A few months in a new place to think things through, expanding my horizons, get some perspective and decide what's really important in my life."

She was angry, hurt, and so very sad. It finally hit her. She was realizing Bobby had been looking for a way out ever since Michael DeVry's rampage. And this was it. She decided in that moment to let him off the hook.

"The more I think about it, the more I think you're right. A change of scenery might just be what I need." With that, she stood and walked up the stairs and quietly closed the door to her bedroom.

Bobby let out a sigh of frustration, realizing they had failed to connect again, but not feeling up to confronting the situation he downed the rest of his wine. He walked back into the kitchen and put away everything he'd taken out to prepare dinner. With a glance up the stairs, he turned and picked up his notebook and let himself out. He went home to his apartment, where he opened a new bottle of Glen Livet and pour himself what looked like a triple shot.


	23. Chapter 23

The next day Sarah pulled herself together long enough to go down to Daniel's office and officially accept the offer to write

The next day Sarah pulled herself together long enough to go down to Daniel's office and officially accept the offer to write the screenplay. Daniel cautiously recommended a literary agent, Corinne Bailey, who had ties to the film community in Los Angeles as well. Sarah merely nodded and said that if he set up a meeting, she'd keep the appointment. He called Corinne and scheduled a lunch for the three to meet for lunch the day after tomorrow. He realized that if he left it up to Sarah, she would put off making contact with Corinne Bailey. He also gave her a contact number for Carla Delgado with Hyperian's Los Angeles office. Carl Delgado would be able to help Sarah with anything she needed once she got to Los Angeles.

Daniel had considered what this would mean to Sarah's relationship with Goren. While he wasn't that acquainted with Sarah's personal life, he was aware of the part the man had played in her life for much of the last year. And he, along with tens of thousands of others had followed the events of the rampage and deaths Michael DeVry had caused. The story had been front-page tabloid fodder for several weeks.

Curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "How does Detective Goren figure into these plans?"

As she got up to leave, Sarah said, "I don't think he figures into them at all."

Sarah's response saddened him, but it didn't surprise him. Extreme situations like they had come through were often overwhelming. And destructive.

That evening Bobby didn't come over or call, for the first time in a very long time. She had at least still expected that. Although she wasn't sure why, she hadn't given him much reason why he should. By ten o'clock that night she had to get out of her apartment. She drove over to Bobby's and saw the lights on. She buzzed his apartment and when he answered, she could hear the wheels turning in his head. "How do I avoid this? This isn't going to be good." When he said, "Come on up." she could almost see the look of resignation on his face.

Was she reading more into his silence and his pause then was there?

When he opened the door, they gave each other a friendly kiss. Not passionate, but friendly. It was then she realized that it really was probably for the best that she was leaving.

She told Bobby she'd made her decision and was going to accept the screenwriting job. She'd be leaving in two weeks for the west coast. And she wasn't setting any time limit on how long she planned to stay in LA. She was going to take it day by day.

Bobby felt the walls closing in around him, but said he was happy that she'd made a decision that she seemed to give her something to look forward to. She'd stayed for a drink and when she got up to leave, Bobby had followed her to the door and said, "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"Right. Of course. Well, I'm sure we'll see each other again before I leave. With a smile and a wink, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his chin. That had always seemed such a sweet thing to them both, but tonight, it just seemed sad. She'd meant the words to come out cute and funny. But they sounded more like an indictment.

If ever a relationship had ended with a whimper and not a bang, this was it.

The next two weeks were a flurry of activity. And Sarah really had to force herself to focus and see all the work through. There had been a rushed dinner arranged so that she could say good-bye to Alex and Andy. Sarah had to pack up her apartment, to decide what to take with her and what to put into storage. She'd decided to sublet her apartment while she was gone, since it seemed like it was going to be indefinite length. She kept getting sidetracked in her packing. She'd run across something that reminded her of Amanda or Kelly. She'd find pictures of Angie and David, and then Angie, David and Sean.

One such occasion, Bobby showed up to help Sarah pack and found her out on the terrace staring out over the city. "I'm going to miss everything here, so much. But so much of what I'm going to miss isn't even here anymore."

"It's not an easy choice to make, to completely uproot your life. To pack up and leave your home, leave the life you've been living. You've had more than your share of difficult situations that have forced you into having to make some difficult choices. But you've made those decisions. That takes an amazing amount of strength and courage. I don't think you give yourself enough credit for having that strength or courage. One thing I know is that you're going to make it through. I also think that the decision you've made here, is one that is ultimately going to be for the best."

Sarah was speechless. No one had ever praised her abilities to manage her life like that before. "I don't know what to say, Bobby. I think you're giving me way too much credit here, but thank you."

Looking down into her eyes, with an expression that she couldn't decipher, Bobby said, "No Sarah, I'm not giving you too much credit, you just never given yourself enough."

With a rueful smile and a catch in her voice, Sarah replied, "That's what Angie was always used to say."

"I know." As tears sprang to Sarah's eyes, the look on his face softened and he pulled Sarah close. He gently stroked her hair and held her close as he whispered. "I know."

Bobby had stayed that night. It would turn out to be their last night together.

Three days later, Bobby arrived early to take Sarah to the airport. Again he discovered Sarah standing out on the little balcony. She'd obviously been out already this morning. Her hands were wrapped around a Starbucks coffee cup. Bobby stood quietly and didn't interrupt her thoughts.

After a few minutes, Sarah pulled back into herself and drew a deep breath, "Okay, I guess it's time we got going. I have a plane to catch."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, we should get going. As much as I'd like things to be different, I can't wish them that way, can I?"

"Unfortunately, you're right … as always. Things are what they are, and wishing them to be different than they are, just doesn't work. Can't you just be wrong, once?" Sarah picked up her jacket and carryon bag. Everything else, she'd shipped ahead and would be waiting for her when she got to Los Angeles this evening.

"And break my perfect record. No, I think not. That could set a dangerous precedent." In that moment, for a moment everything seemed perfect again.

As Bobby took the bag from her, Sarah took one last look around her apartment and then walked out the door. Bobby turned back and he took one last look around the apartment too. He checked to see that the door was locked as he pulled the door closed. He stood with his back to the door, his thoughts a jumbled mess. Testing the doorknob one final time, he walked away to join Sarah at the elevator.

The drive to JFK was mostly a silent affair. Bobby concentrated on his driving. Sarah gazed out the window as the city receded behind them. She was leaving a lot behind.

Bobby pulled up to the loading/unloading zone alongside the front of the airport. With the added security at all airports, but especially the ones in New York since 9/11, it wasn't really convenient or advisable to wait for anyone's flight. Sarah had told him that the ride out to the airport was more than enough. It was still early and Bobby had been able to pull up right in front of the American Airlines curbside check-in service. He popped open the trunk to retrieve Sarah's luggage as she reached for her ticket information.

"Well, I guess this is it…" Sarah tried to say this lightly, accompanied with a slight lift of her shoulders and a crooked little grin.

"Yep. This is it." When Bobby said it, it sounded final.

Tears sprang to Sarah's eyes and she simply nodded her head. Bobby leaned down to kiss her goodbye. He hoped she wouldn't notice how fast his heart was beating and that he was shaking. Breaking off the kiss, he pulled her close one final time and whispered, "If you need anything, ever… "

"I know…", Looking down and nodding her head, she repeated, "I know." She looked up at Bobby and raised up on her tiptoes and kissed his chin. "Goodbye, Bobby." She pulled away, but grabbed both his hands in hers. As she turned to walk away, she dropped one hand, but held on to the other until the only contact remaining was a tenuous light touch of fingertips. As that too fell away, Bobby's arm hung frozen in midair before he slowly dropped his arm to his side.

Bobby leaned back, slumped against the side fender of his car, and watched her check-in. With a final glance back at him, she entered the airport building.

Bobby watched Sarah walk through the automatic doors and into the airport, she turned one final time and waved goodbye. He saw Sarah look around to get her bearings and walk away from New York and from him.

Bobby got into his car and started the engine. He sat there with both hands on the steering wheel, looking at the door Sarah had walked through.

An airport cop walked over and tapped on the window. "Move it along Sir. You can't stay here."

Drawing and exhaling a deep breath, Bobby muttered, "Your right Officer, I can't stay here."

As Bobby pulled away from the curb and eased into traffic, he said, "It looks like Michael DeVry got his revenge after all."


End file.
